Wingless
by JayJayKay
Summary: A mysterious person named Winter starts an adventure guild to discover the terrible truth behind the great Labyrinth.
1. The Labyrinth

There is a great mystery that plagues our lands. Hundreds of years ago, something happened that changed the entire world. Where a large, prosperous town happily stood is now a gaping pit. The villagers, obliterated. What remains of this once happy place is a swirling vortex to another world. A world of mystery, and of monsters; beckoning to all who came near. Explorers, Adventurers, Warriors and Scholars traveled from far and wide to explore this mysterious place. Merchants, Buisness Owners, Smiths and many other people came, and a town began right near the edge of the portal. Maps have been made, monsters fought, lives have been lost, but still none know the truth behind the Labyrinth that took place of that once happy place. But that still won't deter our hero.  
A Man dressed in... Wait.. no... A Woman in... Uh... Huh?

A Hero stands atop the hill, overlooking the town of Largeon, which is the city over the portal (Much better.) Dressed in a purple cape which covers their face, our Hero carries nothing with them but a confidence that will rock the world, and a cocky grin that shows no fear of this place. Yes, an adventure will soon begin!

1: Winter

Our Purple hero walks through the crowded streets. We shall, for now, refer to him with a male pronoun because our Narrator is getting confused over how to address this odd person. "This place sure has changed." He murmurs to himself with a grin. But even if it has changed, he walks around like he knows the place like the back of his hand. ...Okay, maybe not QUITE like the back of his hand. He ran into quite a few dead ends. Eventually, he reached his destination, a quiet wooded path. The foot prints of his predecessors mark up the path, inviting him to stroll in. With a calm air, he steps forward- "Oi! What do you think you're doin' here?" Growled a Knight standing guard right nearby. "Who, me?" The Purple hero asked in confusion. "No, the tree right next to you- OF COURSE I MEANT YOU. You can't pass here without the permission from a guild master or sponsor!" The Knight barked with impatience. The Purple hero glanced at the tree, then back at the man. "But the tree doesn't have a pass. So why would you yell at it like that?" He asked, with curiosity. The Knight was unsure whether the oddball in purple was making fun of him or honestly that dumb, he sighed. "Look, just go to the Guild plaza and look for the Dungeon Master. He'll get you step up, and then you can come back and get killed in there to your heart's content." The Knight said, pointing the way to the Guild plaza. The Purple hero shrugged, turned and walked to the plaza without another word.

Roy was a busy man, especially during the spring. Unfortunately for him, it just so happened to BE spring! Papers and young warriors streamed through the open doors to the Guild house, hoping to get a taste of adventure in the mysterious Labyrinth that has stood near the town for Centuries. And as the Dungeon Master, it was his job to sort through the paper work and let the guild masters decide who is in and who is out. It was... tiring work, to be certain. But this spring seemed to be slightly different. For one thing, many women registered for Guilds. This by itself wasn't all that unusual. Women usually worked as healers, and were in high demands in Guilds. But there were far more women warriors then what he had ever seen before. It was very tricky, assigning women to guilds. Not all Guilds were kind to their members. And stories of women who were assaulted by fellow Guildsmen, or made a mockery of, or discriminated against were spread all over the city. Roy sighed as he finished another interview. All of these hopefuls would soon learn what it's truly like to be the lowest of the low, for that is how most Guild masters treated their underlings nowadays. Another person entered through the doors, Roy prepared himself as he looked up to greet another hopeful. A Woman with a shock of pink hair walked through the doors with a lopsided grin on her face. "Hello hello!" She practically sang as she took a seat. Roy couldn't help but stare, this woman seemed... Crazy, would be a good word for it. She offered him a hand. "I'm Rihn, pleased to make your acquaintance!" She said happily as she clutched his hand and pumped it up and down vigorously. Yes, definitely crazy. Pink hair; short, indecent clothes; and a lopsided grin; There was no way this woman would be accepted into any guild as anything but eye-candy. Roy prepped up the 'letting them down easy' talk, clearing his throat as he looked over her application form. Something caught his eye though, the application sheet was empty. "Miss, you do realize you're supposed to fill out the information before the interview?" He asked, looking up at her with his one good eye. Fidgeting in her char, Rihn's gaze slid across the floor and away from Roy. "Weeellllll... Yeah, I guess. But I don't exactly want others reading my information... Sorry." She said nervously, giving a quick shrug and breaking back into her grin. Roy sighed and set the paper down. "Miss Rihn, no guild will take you if you don't have your information down." He explained slowly. Rihn cocked her head. "Why not?" She asked. "Well, how else will the Guild masters learn your strengths if they don't know them?" He answered. "I'll just tell them!" She said happily. "It's not done like that!" Roy groaned into his hand. "Well whats it done like then?" Rihn asked, sounding slightly exasperated. "It's really simple! I read your information and talk to you. Then I give your information and picture to the Guild masters. Then they select the ones they want in their guild!" Roy said, losing his temper. "That's ridiculous! How am I supposed to fight for a master who will probably only glance at my picture, look over how strong I am, and pick me without a second thought? How am I supposed to follow masters I never even meet?" Rihn exploded. Roy sat there, unable to think of an answer. Rihn stood back up. "Uh, Thanks for your time, but unless theres a Guild that isn't run by the proud, I won't be interested in joining." And with that, she left. Roy sat, staring at the door, thinking deeply about the words the mysterious woman, Rihn, yelled as she turned from the trap everyone else fell into.

The Guild Plaza is a loud and bustling place. Located in the very center of town, the plaza had all kind of different attributes that people brought from all over the world! Swordsmen from the dessert sit outside the smithy, the warmest place in the city, and relate stories of their adventures. Knights and Soldiers often visit the square, not to keep the rowdy in check, but to have a grand old time with warriors of all ages. It's a beautiful, yet twisted place. Orphans and street urchins swim in and out of the crowd, trying to find a generous man or woman to donate a meal for them, only to be yelled at or beaten by 'higher knights.' A courier is cornered by three rookie Dualsmen, eager to pick a fight. Dark hunters glare at whoever dare pass them. The Townspeople avoid this place when they can, and yet, it's still the busiest place in the country. A woman with long golden hair rests against the side of a building, watching people enter and exit the square. She watches one person for a while with interest, and then seems to frown and look for a new person. This pattern replays, she herself catching quite a bit of unwelcome attention from passing men. But she can't help it, she tried dressing discreetly, but still her appearance catches people's eyes. Not that she understands that, to her, what always caught other peoples attention was the armor she wore. And without it, she's still confused as to why shes receiving stares. A group of unsavory men look as if they're about to approach her. The woman inhales, preparing herself for the worst when another voice breaks her thought. "Oi! Ma'am! Can you tell us where we can find Sparrows inn?" The woman turns her head to see another woman, more like a girl, and a solemn man beside her. The girl crossed her arms, waiting for the woman to answer. The woman looks at the two for a long moment and offers a shrug. "I'm afraid I wouldn't know. I myself am rather new to this place. My apologies." She offered, nodding her head to them. The man looked back over to the other group of men, and back to the woman. "Well, we could use some company. Would you care to join us?" He said quietly, the meaning of escape quite obvious. The woman looked relieved, but quickly masks it with another nod and a smile. The girl looked between the two and shrugged, pushing her sunglasses upon her forehead. "My name's Lynn. This here is my older brother Loi." The woman breathed a sigh of relief as the trio left the plaza. "It's wonderful to meet you both. My name is Arianna, and thank you, for saving me back there." Arianna smiled again. Lynn shrugged cockily. "It's no problem ...But we seriously need to find Sparrows. I heard it's the only decent inn in this city." She explained. "Well then, I'll do everything in my power to assist you. Maybe we could ask one of the locals?" Arianna suggested as they walked.

We go back to our Hero once more, who is currently sitting in a waiting room filled with hunting trophies and paintings and all sorts of weapons. He doesn't really get a chance to admire the relics of adventure, because he was given a stack of papers to fill out. Unfortunately for him, he's really bad with paperwork. As he stares at the papers, our purple hero eventually is the last to be seated in the waiting room. In fact, He is the last applicant of the season! Finally, a man enters the waiting room from the interview room and nods his goodbye to our hero as he leaves both rooms. Taking this as a symbol of his turn, our purple hero enters the interview room.

Roy glanced up at the clock; it was the last applicant of the entire season. He could already feel the stress ease off as he waited for the last applicant. The door opened, Roy looked with expectation as... some weirdo in a flamboyant purple cape sheepishly entered the room. "Hey there!" The weirdo said with a sheepish grin. Roy sighed. No, the day just couldn't end quietly... He cleared his throat. "Name?" He asked tiredly. "Winter. My name is Winter." The purple weirdo, Winter, stated clearly. Winter took this as an invitation to sit down, so he did. "I didn't get a chance to really fill out these.. paper thingies. Sorry chap, but I'll happily tell you anything else I might've missed!" He chirped. Roy nodded hesitantly, accepting the slightly crumpled papers from Winter. Slowly, he browsed over the answer. Most of them incomprehensible, for Winter's writing was large and loopy. Even in circle pre-made answers, it was impossible to tell which he actually circled, which made it very puzzling for Roy to try and figure out Winter's Gender. Roy glanced at Winter from over the papers. Winter seemed... Calm, yet out of place. It made Roy feel uneasy as he set down the papers. "What kind of talents do you have, Winter?" Roy asked, mostly out of politeness, for he knew that there was no way this mysterious stranger would make his way into any guild. "Well, I've learned all sorts of skills in my travels! Swords, healing, archery, botany.." He paused for a moment, looking at Roy's face. Winter seemed to look up (Or at least it seemed, it was hard to tell with his hood over his face) and sighed. "...Theres no getting in, is there?" He contemplated, then looked back down at Roy and smiled. It unnerved Roy to the core. Even though he couldn't see Winter's eyes, it felt like the stranger was staring at his core. Like ages of battle, and no experience to prove it; or the strength of a Lion. Winter was impossible. Roy looked down. "I'm afraid not. They... they wouldn't want people like you in their guilds." Roy choked, but somehow laughed. "They want people who are too green to join, too desperate to say no... Too proud to realize their errors." Roy froze; did he really just say that? It was like that girl Rihn all over again. But this time felt different, instead of frustration, Roy felt angry. He knew, Winter knew and Rihn all knew the corruption around them, but there wasn't a thing they could do. Except, maybe... Roy interlocked his fingers and took a deep breath. "Tell me, why do you want to join a guild?" He asked Winter. Winter nodded and began slowly. "..I made a promise, as well as a mistake. And to fix it, I have to prove my strength. The only way I can do that is through the Labyrinth. I've looked all over the world, for different battles, different worlds... But the Labyrinth is different. It's called to me over and over again. And this time, I'm going to take it." Winter finished. Roy studied the flamboyant, purple caped stranger. Although his appearance defied it, this person was strong and knew what had to be done. Roy smiled, he had an idea. "Well, like you said, the odds of you making one of these other guilds are next to nothing." Winter sighed after hearing that. "..But, there may be a way to avoid this problem entirely." Roy finished with a flourish. "Really?" Winter asked, excitement in his voice. Roy nodded, standing up and riffling through his desk. "Meet me at Sparrows in an hour. They have a bar there, we'll discuss business." Roy stated as he pulled out papers and ink. Winter stood up, a broad grin stretched across his face. "Thank you, thank you sir!" He laughed as he offered his hand out to Roy. Roy took it, "The thanking should be done by me. I'll see you in an hour then!" He exclaimed.


	2. Winter

2: The meeting

Sparrow's was a quiet Inn and Restaurant. Or at least it WAS in the Summer, Fall and Winter! In Spring, the entire city was packed to the max with foreign warriors and fighters trying their hand at the Labyrinth, and Sparrows was not exempted from said packing. Arianna, Lynn and Loi sat together at a solid oak table near the back of the inn. "Did you travel here with anyone, Arianna?" Lynn asked as they waited for the server to bring them their order. Arianna shook her head. "No, I came here looking for work." Loi raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose it has something to do with the freelance symbol you wear?" Arianna turned slightly pink and absentmindedly fidgeted with the symbol on her bag. Freelance agents wore red circles with a cross in the middle. The color of cross usually symbolized what kind of warrior this freelance was, but Arianna's was white. "Well, yes. You see, my brother is at home... He's dying. I came here to try and earn extra money to send back for the doctors." She explained sadly. "Ohh... I'm sorry." Lynn apologized. Arianna gave a weak sort of half-smile. "It's okay. He understands what must be done, and so do I." She explained hurriedly. Loi studied Arianna. "So what kind of warrior are you? You seem rather... Upperclass, so I don't believe you'd just be a run of the mill sell-sword. And I doubt you'd be a Duelsman or something of the like. So are you a healer or something? A hunter maybe?" Loi contemplated. "Oh, no, nothing like that. Although I do know a bit of healing I'm actually a-" Arianna was cut off as a waitress brought over their meal. "Enjoy." Was the waitress' farewell as she was swept back into the crowd, after delivering the food of course. Lynn looked happily at her plate, though Loi kept looking at Arianna, waiting for her to finish. Arianna looked down at the food, then back up. But instead of meeting Loi's eye, her gaze was drawn to someone else in the room. Loi turned to see what she was looking at. "Who is that..?" He wondered aloud as a loud... erm... person in purple entered the bar. Arianna shook her head, yet was unable to take her gaze away. "I haven't the slightest." She murmured. Lynn finally glanced up and joined the other two in staring at the purple hooded figure. "Ugh... how garish." She sniffed, staring at the gaudy purple cloak. They weren't the only ones to notice this person's presence. Short barks of laughter erupted from a group of Duelsmen as the purple person walked in. But instead of being angry, the stranger gaffed right back at them in a louder voice until the other men fell silent. Arianna held a hand up to her face to hide the smirk that was spreading across her lips. Loi watched, with an eyebrow cocked. Lynn, still unable to read the situation, rolled her eyes angrily and continued eating. The room continued with its noisy conversation as Loi and Arianna looked back to their own plates. The purple stranger, momentarily forgotten.

Winter looked around the bar excitedly. That was one of the perks of travel, no matter where you went, there would always be a bar. Ironically, Winter hated alcohol, but he loved the conversing and the laughter that took place. Of course, it usually started with laughter for some reason. Winter could never figure out why, but people usually laughed when they first saw him. Maybe it was his haircut... never mind, moving on. Winter took a seat on one of the barstools, waiting for the bartender to come over. A girl with mousy brown hair nodded at him from down the way. "Be with you in a mo', sir." She called breathlessly as she pulled down a bottle from the shelving. Winter gave a small wave to let her know he heard and swiveled around to look at the room. It was a very large bar, not the largest in the city, but enough to carry an echo across the high ceilings. As it was very packed, noise bombarded Winter from all directions. He took a deep breath in and just absorbed the chattering as the bartender finally got to his portion of seating. "Good evening... uhm.. sir..?" She started slowly. Winter swiveled back around. "Don't call me sir. Nothing about me is sir-ly. Call me Winter." He said flippantly. The girl looked confused but shook her head. "Alright then, 'Winter,' my names Christine." She introduced herself. Winter nodded. "How do you do? Well, no, it's pretty obvious how you do. You look awfully tired and worn out. Has it been a long day?" Winter prattled on. Christine looked Winter over, then finally released a tired chuckle. "Long month is more like it. All these hooligans coming here to challenge the 'great labyrinth,' more like a bunch of buffoons with swords." She complained. Winter nodded. "I hear ya. I actually came to challenge the labyrinth myself you know!" "O-oh! Please forgive me, sir, I didn't mean to be offensive.." Christine gasped, dithering slightly across the bar. "Christine, I'm Winter, not sir. And it's completely fine! It's not like you would've known. You're opinion is your own, and I admire you for giving it!" Winter said cheerily. Christine still looked a little frazzled but nodded again. "Er, right. Sorry. Uhmm... Can I get you something to drink?" She mumbled, still looking flustered at the insult she gave. Winter sighed. "Oh, sure. Do you serve coffee? I'd like some of that. You know, bars are the only places I can find Coffee anymore. It's quite sad." Winter began. Christine only stayed for about half of it, as soon as she heard the familiar drink; she was off to prepare it. Winter smiled as she hurried off. Oh yes, people around here are very strange, Winter thought to himself as he swiveled the chair again.

Roy finished the last of the paperwork. It was already organized for the guild masters to look over when they pleased. The final results would probably come in... oh August or so, he predicted. And with that done, he stood up. It was nice to stand up, after sitting at a desk all day. Roy used to be an adventurer; he was a very successful one until he had found a monster he couldn't defeat. His hand brushed over the flap of leather held over his eye, the monster had stolen more then his right to adventure. But with this plan he was concocting, he felt the rush of adrenaline he used to feel when traversing the labyrinth. He might even be fired for doing something this bold, but he didn't regret it. It was time that this town lost its kingpins and had better people take their place. Even the mayor, a man whom no one even remembers him coming into office has ruled far beyond the expectation of his age. It was time for the elders to step down and make room for new heroes. New legends. And Roy was going to make sure this was going to happen.

Winter took a long drink of his coffee as a blond haired woman took a seat beside him at the bar. "Three coffees please." She spoke calmly to Christine. Christine nodded, turning for the pot she had already brewed for Winter. The woman glanced over at Winter for a moment. He smiled and offered her a hand. "I'm Winter." He chirped. The woman paused for a moment, stoically looking over his hand, then smiled softly, shaking his hand in return. "Arianna." She said in her smile. Winter cocked his head, studying the woman. "I absolutely LOVE your dress!" He said excitedly, recognizing the famous brand-name dress Arianna wore. A real smile broke through Arianna's face, she looked down, almost shyly, saying 'Thank you." In a smaller voice. Winter laughed. "You're quite welcome! Say, you wouldn't have happened to see the Dungeon Master around here, have you?" He asked, looking around the room again. Arianna glanced around as well, shaking her head. "I'm afraid not. But I'll keep an eye out for him." She said slowly as Christine set three mugs full of piping hot coffee on the bar top. "Enjoy." Christine said coolly as Arianna set coins down on the counter. Standing up, Arianna reached over for the mugs. "Here, let me help you with that." Winter interjected, taking one of the mugs up with his half-drank coffee. Arianna nodded her thanks as they weaved their way to the back of the room.

A blond haired man clothed in deep red and a girl with similar, yet darker hair, with sunglasses pushed up on her forehead sat together. The girl with the sunglasses rolled her eyes at Winter. "Oh great, it's the flamboyant guy. Just what we needed." She groaned as she sank down in her chair. Loi calmly accepted his coffee from Arianna as she took a seat beside him. "This is Winter." She said with calm look, regardless of Lynn's whining. Winter gave a little wave as he set down the remaining coffee for Lynn before turning. "You can join us, if you wish." Loi said quietly, taking a sip of his coffee. Winter turned back, a broad grin on his face. "Alright!" He cheered as he sat beside Lynn, who quickly moved her chair away from him. "Really Loi?" She pouted. Loi didn't meet her gaze, and just stared with fake interest at the wall. She had obviously tried this many times with him before to no avail. "So, are you adventurers as well?" Winter began, studying the three who sat with him. "I guess you could say so. We heard about the legend of the Labyrinth from our grandfather and decided to continue the family legacy by exploring it like he did!" Lynn spouted with annoyance, more to put Winter in his place then anything. Winter seemed rather oblivious to it though, he nodded. "The labyrinth has been around for ages.. I hope you do your family proud." He said. Loi nodded once with thanks. Lynn just growled and looked away.

Winter kept the conversation going in odd ways, Lynn would respond in an attempt to rile up Winter, but he was immune as Loi. Arianna listened in interest as Winter talked about his travels, even Loi couldn't help but be genuinely interested when he heard of the places Winter had been. "..And what happened after you reached the oasis?" Lynn asked in spite of herself as Winter told them about his adventures in the desert. "Well, the nomads who were with me immediately followed the map to these weird sets of rocks. And you know, after much examination, we came to the conclusion that the rocks were of the same stone of the type found in the great seas. It was a fascinating find actually!" He recalled with excitement as he retold story after story. The crowd in the bar was dwindling; Arianna glanced around the room as Lynn got into another question match with Winter about his adventure. She tapped Loi on the shoulder. He looked at her, then around the room, a look of confusion briefly flitting across his face. "Somethings wrong." He spoke suddenly, causing both Winter and Lynn to look up from their argument. Arianna stood up, "let's go check outside." She called as she ran to the door. Loi followed in fast pursuit with Lynn and Winter hot on his heels. What met their gaze made them freeze. A great beast crashed through the streets, howling. Running wildly, people dodged back and forth, trying to escape the awful beast. "What is that thing?" Lynn asked breathlessly. "It's a Ragelope! Quick! We have to stop it before it hurts someone!" Winter yelled as he snatched a knife off of one of the tables set outside Sparrows. Lynn just looked at him with shock. "And what do you expect to do with that thing?! We don't have any weapons and that won't do a thing!" She wailed as the beast Got closer. Loi looked back at her. "Then go and get your bow. We'll hold it off until then. Now GO!" He shouted at her as he pulled cards from his pockets. Lynn hesitated, but turned and ran at top speed back into the building. Arianna pulled a short sword out of her bag along with an Aspis shield. Winter nodded at her, before charging towards the beast.


	3. The Beast

3: The Beast

Loi observed the situation with a surprisingly calm air about him. With a flick of the wrist he shot two cards behind the beast. With a bang, the cards exploded, spitting up a wall of fire. The beast leapt forward, howling in fear. Unfortunately for it, Loi had already sent the next cards. The ground turned slick as ice as the beast landed. With a loud thud, it hit the ground. It shuffled, trying to regain its balance, its angry gaze focused on Loi. Winter surged forward, gliding over the ice like an expert figure skater, knife ready. The beast barely glanced at Winter as it finally figured out how to shuffle forward. With another howl, it charged towards Loi, antlers lowered and ready to taste flesh. Another card left Loi's hand. A heavy puff of air buffered the Ragelope, but did not stop it completely. Loi drew back, unsure if dodging was capable at this point when Arianna stepped between them, deflecting the antlers with her shield. She wielded her sword expertly, slowly causing the Ragelope to back up. It was an amazing sight to see, a human taking on a full grown ragelope and getting it to retreat with mere sword-work. Using the opportunity Arianna created, Winter leapt upon a table, then onto the Ragelope's back. It bucked and howled, trying to shake off it's unwelcome passenger. Loi sent to more cards forward, ice coated the ground once more. Something flashed from one of the upper windows in the inn. Lynn with her bow was positioned at one of the windows. With expert skill, she drew back, and released the arrow. It soared with beauty, and pierced it's target head on. The beast howled, collapsing to the ground, yet not dead. Winter drew up his knife, and brought it down upon the creature's heart. With one last shriek, the monster dissolved. Winter knelt upon the ground where the monster once stood, panting heavily.

Loi quietly observed the scene, the last of fire had flickered out and the ice was melting. Of course, he could completely eradicate both, but he chose to let them fade on their own. He, Winter, Lynn and Arianna sat at one of the table outside of Sparrows. "You guys were incredible out there." Winter laughed as he drank another mug of coffee. Lynn rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure you guys had it without my help. Arianna was surprisingly good though." She admitted, giving a nod to Arianna. Arianna shook her head. "Any other Protector could've done the same. But it was thanks to you three that the beast was killed." There were awkward chuckles as the four reflected on what just happened. "Why was a monster like that here though? Ragelopes are native to the Labyrinth, and the guards always make sure they never pass. So how did it get here?" Loi asked. Winter considered this for a minute, then shrugged. "I haven't got a clue. The Barrier itself is what keeps the monsters out, not the Knights. ...Why it didn't work is what's bothering me." He said darkly. Silence enveloped the group. Lynn nodded over the single horn lying on the pavement, the only thing remaining from the beast. "So, who'll take that then?" She asked quietly. No one answered.

"What happened here?" Someone shouted. A group of knights marched into the square, looking around at the damage the great beast had caused. Winter waved merrily to them from his coffee. "Evening Gents! What are you searching for?" He called out. The Knight in charge looked from Winter to the horn on the ground. "The beast, are you the ones who defeated it?" He yelled. Winter gave two thumbs up as the Knights scattered across the street, surveying damage and what-not. The Knight in charge along with three others approached Winter, Lynn, Loi and Arianna. "I'm Winter, these three are, well, Arianna and... Well, didn't quite catch your names there?" He looked to Loi and Lynn, who stated their names. "Ah, Loi and Lynn. Quite the coincidence with those L's there." Winter chattered happily. The knight studied the four. "What Guild do you serve under?" Winter opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Loi, "why do you ask?" He asked sharply. The Knight studied them warily. "Full out fighting is prohibited by traveling warriors. Only assigned Knights and Guild members may do battle in public places such as this one." The Knight explained. Winter stared at him, taken aback. Loi's mind raced as he tried to think up something, anything. "They serve under the new guild!" A voice cried as someone else ran into the street. "Ah, Dungeon master! Nice to see you too!" Winter shouted, waving merrily. Roy shook his head at Winter. "A bit bonkers, but registered as the new guild." The Knight looked the Dungeon Master over sternly. "Very well then, new guild." He practically spat the last words. "I'll leave you to your business. As you were the ones who defeated the beast, the spoils are your belongings. Collect it by dawn or you'll be fined for littering." He grunted as he turned and stalked away. "..Well that was unpleasant." Lynn sniffed. Arianna gazed after them, a sad look on her face. "What about a new Guild?" Winter asked curiously, looking at the papers in Dungeon Master's hands. "You were right. The Guilds we have now are no good. We need people like you to shake things up. So I'm registering you as the new Guild of Largeon." He explained as he took a seat beside Loi. Winter's face lit up like a candle. "Truly? Oh this is going to be fantastic!" He shouted gleefully into the sky as Roy unfolded the paperwork.


	4. A Guild

4: A Leader

"This is torturous." Winter groaned as he stared at the paperwork. There was much more to it then he had first thought. Papers full of information from the local Government sat upon the table as well as a list of conduct, permitted weaponry and permission for entrance to the labyrinth itself. Lynn, Loi and Arianna had watched all of this unfold, with amusement on Lynn's part. "A new Guild then?" Arianna asked as she looked over one of the papers. Roy nodded. "Winter here struck me as the type of a leader. And that's what we need here, some fresh faces with the courage to take the Labyrinth head on. So I began scheming, and this is what we have now." He said, waving to the papers. "But wait, I thought there was a deadline for Guild registration in this city." Lynn interjected. "There is. Which is why we have to fill out all of the papers by tomorrow evening." Roy finished. Winter stared at him. "Tomorrow?" He squeaked in terror. Arianna didn't say anything, she just grabbed a stack of papers and began filing faster then Winter could believe. "You're going to help him then?" Loi asked Arianna as she tapped her pen once against her tongue to get the ink flowing. She shrugged as she began flipping through the papers. "Winter is the most noble of all the people I've met so far besides you two. I figure if he'll accept me, then I'll work. I'm very good with stuff like this actually." She explained while she separated papers into three different stacks. "Really? You will?" Winter perked up; dropping the papers he was holding. Arianna simply bobbed her head as she went through the first stack. Winter just smiled and shook his head. "A Protector and Secretary in one. Arianna, you're just something else! Thank you, thank you so much." He beamed. Roy glanced at Loi and Lynn. "Will you join them too?" Loi shrugged. "I suppose. We weren't impressed with any of the other Guilds. And I sincerely doubt we'll get sponsors at this point in time." He contemplated, reading papers over Arianna's shoulder. Lynn pouted, rolled her eyes, then finally sighed and said "Well, they need me anyhow. I mean, Survivalists are best for surviving, right? So I guess... But I demand the title of Vice president of the guild!" Roy shrugged, slightly amused. "I'm sure Ms. Arianna can somehow achieve that title for you." Winter just shook his head and laughed. "This is really going to be fantastic now!"

"..Life Insurance, Guild member policies, Mapping and discovery credits, trading guarantees... I think that's the most of it." Arianna summarized as she smoothed out the stack of completed papers she had written through. Winter glanced up from the paper he was scribbling through. "You're a star Arianna. Truly." He sighed. Arianna smiled, shaking out her head and standing up once more. "I've had enough coffee for one evening though. A nice glass of water would be great now." She explained as she left the room Winter had booked for their work. Winter shook his head and looked back down to his paper. "I don't get how anyone can do all of this in just a few hours." Upon hearing this, Lynn laughed. "You still haven't gotten past that one paper, and it's already been four hours." She chuckled from her perch on a worse-for-the-wear sofa. Loi delivered a swift kick to the base of the sofa, obviously finding Lynn's chattering a disturbance to his work. With a shriek and a bang, the sofa collapsed under the force, sending Lynn toppling to the ground. Winter tried his best to stifle his laughter as Lynn got up in a huff. "Loi, you're impossible!" She growled, straitening out her tunic and sliding her sunglasses up on her forehead. He didn't say anything in reply, but just set his papers on the low-rise coffee table they were sitting around. Trying to recover her wounded pride, Lynn looked at Winter's paper from over his shoulder. "What are you writing anyway?" She asked. "I'm writing out some more information regarding our guild. What I'm stuck at is this," he said, pointing to the name slot for the Guild. "A name huh?" Lynn mused. Winter nodded. "I'm aiming for something memorable, imaginative, and overall impressive." He explained, waving his hands for emphasis. "The Exploration league?" Loi suggested quietly from his seat. "No. That's terrible. Nice try, but no. Just-no." Winter scolded. Lynn snorted back laughter, Loi looked away and shrugged. "No... I want something that is... more hopeful. Not just a title, but an idea. Ya know what I mean?" Winter said, his voice going into a dream-like state. We could also assume that there was a dreamy look on his face, but no one could quite appreciate it with his inner hood pulled over his face. He of course didn't wear a cape inside a living room, that would be rude. Though, to be honest, Roy, Arianna, Loi and Lynn all wondered why Winter kept his face covered, they were just too polite to bring it up. Well, maybe not all too poli- "Why do you always wear that hood?" Lynn groaned, looking between paper and Winter. Winter shrugged. "You've only known me for a day. From your assumptions, this may not always be always. For all you know, I could've just put this on outside the hill to confuse the narrator and will only keep it on for another day or so. Or I could've been wearing this for my whole life. Your logic is flawed, Lynn-girl." Winter quipped. "Narrator?" "Lynn-girl?" Were Loi's and Lynn's comments. Winter didn't answer, he just continued staring at his papers. Loi shook his head. "Flawed logic or not, Winter, you seem to be the type to have his head in the clouds." He said tiredly, taking his coffee from the table. "Clouds... Clouds... sky... flight... Wings... Wingless!" Winter proclaimed, leaping to his feet. Startled, Lynn flinched when he did so. "What are you talking about?" "A name everyone will remember! A dream. An idea! Reaching for the sky, when all odds are against us! And hope that doesn't even need wings to soar! Wingless!" He declared, writing down the name with a flourish. "What did I miss?" Arianna asked as she came back into the room. "Wingless!" Winter declared as he charged out of the room with the completed paperwork. A smile spread across his lips.  
"...Cool?" Was Arianna's unsure response as Winter left.

A pale man with spectacles read through the papers. He nodded once. "Everything appears to be in order. But I say, Roy, a new guild? This isn't like you." He said skeptically. Roy sighed, but even so smiled. "Markus, you have yet to meet them. I'll admit, they aren't the most... Well, Eloquent, but they have charisma. And I think that they'll definitely shake up this city, for the better." He said confidently. Markus tilted his head, a skeptical look on his face. "I hope you're right. Since you turned all of this in on time, they'll be accepted. But they have to finish the original initiation quest before they're an official guild of Largeon." He explained. Roy nodded curtly. "I'll tell them." He stood up, turning to leave when Markus interrupted. "One thing though, Dungeon Master." Roy looked back. "Your new guild didn't fill out the leader's name. They have to finish this before they can go in, as you're well aware." Markus finished. Roy paused, looking slightly deterred. "..Alright. I'll fix that before they come back." He said shortly, then left. Markus stared at the door as Roy left the Senatus, wondering what these new adventurers had that made Roy so different.


	5. A Leader

5: Getting Adjusted

The room Winter had booked had several sets of bunkbeds, but still he seemed unhappy with it, "It just doesn't say 'home.' You know what I mean?" was his explanation. The others didn't pay it much heed, they were happy with the small settlement they had at Sparrows.

It was the day after Roy had registered them as a guild. The Wingless guild members woke early, and quickly prepared themselves for what lay ahead. The great Labyrinth beckoned silently to all as they left the inn. Lynn glanced between her three companions; Arianna was wearing her full armor set of a Protecter, which looked extremely heavy, hot and uncomfortable, yet Arianna looked absolutely fine as they walked down the street. Meanwhile, Loi wore light leather armor of an alchemist; as a back row fighter, they weren't targeted as much as the front row fighters. Winter wore his usual purple cape, but now also wore a silver breast plate embedded with thin lines of what looked like ivory. Whether it was for decoration or it had actual value to fighting, Lynn wasn't sure. "So where is the Senate's hall anyways?" Winter asked as they walked down a slightly crowded street. "Not far, Loi and I saw it the first day we came here, and I remember where its at. If I'm correct, we follow this road for another half mile and then travel west. It's the tallest building in the town center." Lynn explained. Winter whistled. "Man, you've got a pretty sharp memory Lynn! I'm really glad to have you with us now!" He said sing-songy. "And you weren't before?" She retorted. This set up a new chain of bickering, so much in fact, they walked strait past the turn without even realizing it. Loi would have probably said something, only he was terrible with directions of any sort, and forgot entirely which way was west. So the company continued traveling north.

"Shouldn't we have turned by now?" Arianna asked tiredly, just to get the other two to stop fighting. Lynn paused, looked around, then sighed. "I... This is all your fault!' She glared at Winter, who raised his hands in an innocent way. "No it wasn't! You we're supposed to be paying attention!" He cried. Arianna's hand went to her forehead as she sighed. "You mean, we've been walking for half an hour for nothing?" She grumbled. Loi said nothing, but looked between the three, realizing that they all suffered from lack of sleep. Filling out the papers took longer then the three of them realized, and all were short on tempers. "Excuse m-" He began but was cut off by lynn waving around her fists and shouting. "Then we'll simply walk back! Goodness Arianna, stop acting so patronizing! It's just a... a... few miles or so back?" She said, finally looking around to assess their location. Loi just rolled his eyes and ducked into one of the nearby shops to ask for directions as the three stopped fighting to realize how lost they were.

The shop glowed a reddish hue and radiated heat as a Smith banged away on a piece of metal. Loi knocked against the door. The smith looked up. "Be wit' ya in a mo' sir!" The smith called before dunking the red metal into a bucket of water. With a hiss, the metal calmed. The smith stood up and took off the overly large gloves she was wearing. "Oi, ye can step inside." The Smith, actually a younger woman, maybe Lynn's age, called. Loi obliged, stepping into the warm room. The girl offers Loi a hand. "I'm Shelika. An' you're a new one 'round here, aren't ya?" She began as Loi returned her handshake. "An alchemist, eh?" She continued as she studied his armor. "Looks like yer armor could use some patchin' up here an' there. Tell me, are ya in a guild?" Loi nodded, "Wingless." was his short reply. Shelika whistled. "I've never heard a' them. So ya must be the new guild, eh?" She shook her head with frustration. "The senate has this rule, only tha registered guilds may make purchases from the local stores." Shaking her head, Shellika went back behind the counter once more. "You ain't tha first newbie I've met today either. A pink 'aired Dark Hunter came strollin' down this way earlier. She tried ta' pick somethin' up, but I had ta' turn 'er away. Oi, if you 'appen to see er, make sure she's alright. It looked like she was on 'er own." Loi contemplated Shelika's words as he explained where they were trying to go. "Oh, tha Senate? If ya turn left at tha next crossroad, just down tha lane, then take another left two streets after that. Then ye'll find yourself at the Senate. Got it?" She said, making a quick sketch of the route on the back of a receipt. Loi thanked her and walked out back into the cool air.

Lynn, Winter and Arianna had calmed down a little, calm enough to study the map Shelika had given Loi and discover their mishap with the roads. With more confidence, Lynn started down the left lane. Loi mentioned the Pink haired girl to Winter and Arianna as the walked down the sunny streets. "Pink hair? That must be something to see..." Winter said cheerily. It didn't take much to put Winter back in a good mood.

"It's quite spectacular." Arianna breathed as they enter the Senate's plaza. The Senate's building was a large and ornate building. Marble pillars lined the entrance, it looked slightly like a library, but with a large pane of stained glass over the front doors. A scene depicting a hero, wielding a sword over a swirling portal was what the stained glass showed. Winter put his hands on his hips. "It sure has grown." He whispered to himself. "What was that?" Lynn asked, turning to meet Winter's gaze. Winter shook himself out of his reverie. "Oh nothing." He said quickly. Lynn's gaze narrowed and she quickly turned her head back to the Senate's building. "So let's go in, shall we?"

The entrance hall was quiet. Marble floors and tall ceilings carried sounds far, but there was barely a sound to carry; even the sound of the Wingless' footsteps seemed out of place and unwelcoming in the ornate building. A brown mahogany desk sat at the end of the entrance. Sitting behind it was a pale man with glasses. He looked up as the Wingless Guild came closer. When they arrived at the desk, Winter stuck out a hand for a handshake. "Afternoon sir! We're the Wingless Guild, here for our Guild license!" He chirped. The man looked over Winter's hand without expression. "I see. Do you have the consent form signed by the Guild's Master?" He asked slowly, peering at them from over his glasses. "Nope, whats that?" Winter asked. The man in glasses continued staring, and after a long pause, took a very deep breath and sighed. "All Guilds must have a registered leader, you won't be recognized if you don't have one." "Oh, well then," Winter began, glancing back at his companions. "am I the leader?" He asked. Lynn rolled her eyes but nodded, Arianna offered a smile. Turning back to the man, Winter continued. "Alright, so where's the form I have to sign?" The man silently opened a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it to Winter with a crisp snap. Winter happily took the paper, reading it over as he searched his pockets for a pen. Something made him falter though, he hand dropped limply from his pocket as his eyes traveled down the piece of paper. This only lasted a second though, Winter's hand went back into his pocket, pulling out a pen. With a flourish, he signed the paper and handed it back to the man. The Man took it, nodding at the signature and put it back in his desk. "There's one last thing to do before you gain full access to the Labyrinth. To prove your worth, you must accept the Guild's beginning mission." He explained. "This said mission is simple, you must accept this map and complete the chart of the first floor." Passing the paper over the counter, the man looked each of them in the eyes, pausing when he looked at Winter. "There is no limitation on time, and the map is cheat-proof. May luck be on your side, adventurers." He finished. Winter nodded, taking the paper. "Thank you sir. We'll return soon for our reward." He said quietly, too quiet for Winter. He turned, stalking out of the building, leaving his companion turning quickly and following his brisk pace back outside.

"Winter, what's wrong?!" Arianna called out as they caught up with the silhouette of the purple cape. "I can't come with you." Winter said quietly. "What?" Loi asked, an actual trace of surprise in his voice. "The form, to be a leader of a guild is to be a figurehead. They must be a member of the guild and a registered warrior. But they're not permitted to actually enter the Labyrinth." He choked. "That's stupid!" Lynn groaned. "It's to prevent the lack of leadership. If a Guild master were to fall in the Labyrinth, the Guild he owned would dissolve." Winter explained. "But I thought you wanted to explore the Labyrinth! You wanted to as much as, if not more, then the rest of us. You could've just asked one of us to take over." Arianna cried. Winter turned, but instead of the frown they were expecting, Winter was grinning. "Come on guys! You're acting as if I'm dead! Yeah, I'll admit, I really wanted to get in the Labyrinth... But still, I've had tons of adventures! This is only your first. I couldn't ask one of you to take my place so I could fulfill my own desires. That's just mean." He chuckled. The three were at a loss for words, so Winter continued talking. "That being said though, I don't want to send you three in on your own into the Labyrinth. So I've been considering looking for new Recruits for our guild. Do you know that Guilds can register members whenever they want? It doesn't have to be spring! It's just the cruel system devised up by the larger guilds so they can cut short how many people they let in every year. Which, I can kinda understand, but it still seems kind bogus, so..." And on and on he chattered away. The three looked at each other and shared a smile, Winter sure was something.

A pink haired woman walked the streets as evening fell. To passerby-ers, it would appear as if she was talking to herself, for she was alone. Her lips moved with speed as she babbled. But the passerby-ers didn't stand around long enough to hear different voices respond to what the woman was saying.


	6. Chapter 6

6: To Grow

"I'm tired..." Winter grumbled, smacking his lips and rubbing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. They four had stopped for a late bite to eat at a small open café near the Senate. "I am as well. We'll turn in early tonight and search for recruits tomorrow morning if it's okay with you three." Arianna said briskly, neatly folding her napkin into her lap. Lynn picked the remains of her meal from her teeth with a small sliver of wood. "That's fine I guess. I'm not looking forward to another night on those uncomfortable beds though." She groaned. Loi said nothing, he was staring off into the distance as if something had caught his attention. Though, Loi barely spoke as it was, it could've been he whole heartedly-agreed but he just didn't feel like informing the others on his opinion. It could be that staring off into the distance was a clever way to pretend he didn't care to protect his aloof nature, or he might've actually seen something interesting. Winter might've come across this chain of though, if not, he might've thought something similar. Because the purple-caped person leaned farther back in his chair to gaze in the direction Loi was gazing. "What's peeked your interest, Loi?" He asked as he rocked on the chair. Loi, glanced back at Winter, then back to whatever he was looking at. "An odd person. Wandering alone, she seemed to have a small group following her." Loi stated quietly. "A person? What'd she look like?" Winter asked, interest growing. "Pink hair." Was Loi's reply. Arianna stood up, taking a few bills from the bag belted to her hips and leaving them on the table. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to confirm this person, whoever she is, makes it home okay. It seems a lot of crime happens in this city, a surprise for one with such a large Government." She contemplated as she readjusted her knee-boots and strode away from the table. Lynn Loi and Winter stood as well and joined Arianna on the street. "Did you see where they were going, Loi?" Lynn asked, scanning the thinning crowd. Loi looked around and pointed down a murky alley. Lynn sighed. "This is beginning to sound a bit unreasonable... Can't we just go back to the inn?" She groaned to deaf ears as her companions surged towards the alley.

"Gosh I'm tired. Can you believe the look that lady gave me when I asked where that tangerine came from!? Ahahaha! If only all the citizens had a sense of humor like her!" Rihn spoke loudly, laughing as she wandered down whichever path looked interesting. She didn't seem to have much of a sense of discernment, for this area of the city seemed dark and shady. "Anyway, where do you think we should stop for the night? Man, it's situations like these where I miss Elroy, Hellen and the others." She continued, oblivious of the agent following her. "Pfft. Elroy is psychotic sociopath. Hellen is just a serial killer. You always complained about them back at the house." Answered a voice from nowhere. Rihn laughed at the voice. "Oh come on! I never complained that much! I mean, yeah, Hellen got shouty a lot and Elroy was creepy. But Pepper and Marz and the twins we're fantastic! Heck, I even miss Michael. I bet they'd like this place. Don't you think so? Michael would especially like the city. Gosh, I miss them." Rihn said with a twinge on nostalgia in her voice. "You keep repeating the same things Rihn. Can't you at least change the topic?" The voice groaned. "Like what?" Rihn asked, bemused. "Well, we still haven't had dinner yet, and Lani is getting really annoying about it. Can't we stop somewhere?" The voice whined in return. "But Hali, Lani, this is our last night in the city! I want to explore some more before we head for home." Rihn pouted, kicking up dust like a child throwing a tantrum. The voice sighed and said nothing in reply. But suddenly, Rihn paused, whirling around. "Did you hear something?" She asked. "Hm? I didn't. Lani says he didn't either... why?" The voice responded with confusion. "Oh.. no reason." Was Rihn's swift reply as she quickly backtracked down the alley.

"...Probably not our finest moment I'll admit..." Winter finally consented as the angry gang closed in around them. Poor Loi's sense of direction had let them down as he led them strait into the heart of an illegal fighting tournament between two rowdy gangs. You can imagine both parties' confusion as Winter charged in yelling about a pink haired maiden needing protection. Eventually, this led to their current situation, being surrounded by assailants. "Are we permitted to raise weaponry against the citizens?" Lynn asked Arianna in a hushed voice. Arianna slowly drew her sword. "In self-defense or when a mission claims it, yes... Uh, but I think we'll be in trouble whether we can defend ourselves or not." She whispered back. "Oh come on you guys! You're already talking as if it's hopeless and we're in the hospital!" Winter scoffed. The scoffing was cut short as he was punched directly in the face. "Winter!" Arianna and Lynn shrieked. Loi had his cards out and was trying to keep their assailants at bay with icy ground but they grew closer regardless. Lynn whipped out her bow and fired several blunted arrows at the crowd. Several men fell, but not enough. "We're screwed." Loi muttered. But they really weren't.

Because if they were, then the Narrator would've given up writing this story a while ago. Stories are really hard to narrate in the first place, and if it would've ended like this then why even bother? But nah, uh, where we're we..?

Arianna skillfully parried as many attacks as she could, but there were gunner in the enemies ranks. Her sword dropped from her hand with a painful clang as a bullet connected with her gauntlets. Her hand unharmed, but she winced as it connected. Suddenly, a shriek rang out from the back of the gang's crowd. None of the others noticed though, it was just a gunner and some scantily dressed dark-huntress that fell. Rather odd to have two high-paid warriors in a gang, but that's irrevelant. Because a woman scantily dressed, but not so much as the woman who fell, landed neatly behind the crowd. With the grace of a dancer and the speed of a cobra, her whip cracked against the skull of a petty thief. The sound was loud enough to draw the attention of all in the vicinity, but they could barely stand against her. She Danced through the crowd, her whip connected with any and all who dare cross her path. No one could even lay a finger on her. One by one, they all fell. Until finally... "Whoo! What a workout!" Rihn cheered, wiping the non-existent sweat from her brow as she stood before the four members of Wingless. "I thought I heard trouble! You guys sure are lucky I came back around after that weird guy ran away, or else you would've been dog meat!" She said happily, winding her whip back into her oversized leather belt that hung off her hips. "...That... was... INCREDIBLE!" Winter cheered through a bloodied nose. He was up and off the ground where he had landed previously and standing next to Rihn, pumping her hand up and down in a vigorous handshake. The three still stood there, dumbfounded. "Aw! Thank you! Your cape is incredible!" Rihn said in reply, taking in the gaudy purple cloak. "...I'm going back to the inn, and I'm going to go crawl in bed. Goodnight everyone." Lynn finally chocked as she turned and simply walked away.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ...Hi. Um, okay. I haven't made one of these, so I feel weird about it. But uh... ...I can't remember what I was going to say. Sorry for the last update, I was gone this weekend and got smacked in the head with a broom then smacked my head on ice. So I got a minor concussion. Apparently writing hurts my head too. So. I was slow. Sorry. AND OMG ETRIAN ODYSSEY 4 CAME OUT BUT MY SISTER MADE A DEAL WITH ME FOR FIREEMBLEM AND I CAN PLAY FIRE EMBLEM IF SHE GETS ETRIAN ODYSSEY 4 SO I HAVEN'T PLAYED IT YEEEEEEEET -(;^;-) ~***

**Okay. Thats it. Thanks for the reviews guys. If you leave a new one and recommend a story of yours, then I'll read and review. just as an added bonus (wO)~* Jay out yo.**

7:

While Loi, Lynn and Arianna slept, Rihn and Winter chatted long into the night at the bar. Ordering several rounds of fruit smoothies (Coffee isn't really a celebratory drink,) Winter invited Rihn into Wingless and she accepted. So now, here we are, the fourth day in the city.

Lynn rose as the sun did; it was part of her survivalist instinct. Following her regular routine of teeth cleaning and assembling clothes, Lynn just followed the motions until she left the girl's bunk room into the main room of their rented apartments. Winter was already up, wearing his gaudy purple cape and talking to an elder gentleman who was sitting with him. Winter waved to Lynn when he noticed her presence. "Mornin' Lynn!" He chirped. "Good morning, who is that?" Lynn asked without missing a beat. "This is-" Winter began but was cut off by the gentleman with a wave of the hand. "Oh now, now Winter m'bo- ...my friend! I can do this part! Harrison Lagaard the V. It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady." The man introduced himself, standing and offering her his hand. She reluctantly took it and bobbed it once. "So, what are you doing here this early Mr. Lagaard?" She asked politely. "Well-" He began but was cut off by Winter. "None of your concern yet Lynn! Now shoo! Go practice with your bow! I'll inform you all later, okay?" He said hurriedly, getting to his feet and shooing Lynn out of their room. Lynn stood in the hallway as Winter slammed the door behind her, awkwardly wondering what this new stranger would bring to their already unusual guild.

With smooth precision, Lynn released another round of arrows at the target in the training field. Multiple thwacks emitted from the wooden post as each arrow made an impact. The sun's positioning over the field marked it to be 7 a.m.-ish. Lynn had been out for several hours already, practicing tirelessly. After releasing several more arrows at the target, she took a short break to collect the arrows from the post. A whistling caused her to look back as she pulled arrow after arrow from the wood. "Nice shooting!" Rihn cheered from a shady spot under a tree. Lynn nodded once and continued collecting the arrows. Rihn rose from her spot and paroozed over to Lynn, wearing a sleeveless collared shirt with the collar pointed up and shorts that could barely be called 'short.' "You're reaaaaally good at archery though! What kind of fighter are you?" She said happily. Lynn returned the arrows to her bag and turned to face Rihn. "A survivalist, obviously. There aren't any other fighters in this region that uses bows like we do." Lynn said matter-of-factly. Rihn scratched her head. "Oh. Sorry if I seem oblivious to this stuff. This is the first time I've been out to a place like this. Before hand, I lived a far way away." She said slowly, as if picking her words carefully. "Pfft. You'd be slow regardless of where you came from." Jeered a voice from no where. Lynn whipped around, trying to locate the source of the new voice. "Who's there?!" She demanded. "A Bright one, isn't she?" The voice said dryly. "Shut up Hali." Rihn grumbled between clenched teeth. "Make me." The voice echoed. Lynn grabbed Rihn by the collar. "Who is talking?" She demanded. Rihn broke free of Lynns grasp, holding her hands up. "Calm down! It's nothing to worry about. Hali's just rude, Lani doesn't say much though so don't worry about him." She explained hurriedly. Lynn's eyebrow arched up and she put her hands on her hips. "And who are Hali and Lani?" Lynn asked slowly. "They're here." Rihn replied, pointing to a red locket that hung around her neck. Lynn had noticed the locket before but hadn't noticed the black circle that glistened across the surface. With a closer look, the black circle moved and blinked, like a human eye would. "Hali and Lani are... well... I don't exactly know what they are. But they've been with me a long time, so I guess you could call them my friends." Rihn said happily. "We aren't friends." Hali objected. "Quiet you." Rihn replied without breaking her grin. Lynn stared at the mysterious woman, and then simply shook her head. "If I knew there would be so many odd people like this in the city then I think I would've stayed home." She grumbled as she turned and headed back to the inn.

Arianna and Loi were up and eating breakfast at the bar together when Lynn returned. She forcibly wedged her chair between them, interrupting their conversation as she sat down. "Well good morning to you too." Arianna said mildly as she took a drink from her coffee. Loi rolled his eyes at his sister's dramatics and resumed eating his hash. "Winter and Rihn are getting on my nerves." Lynn groaned into the counter. "I haven't spoken much with Rihn, but she seems nice enough." Arianna speculated as Christine approached the three. "Good morning Lynn, can I get you anything?" Christine asked the petite Survivalist. "I'll have what they're having with a side of bacon and orange juice, please." Lynn relayed. Christine nodded. "Alright, I'll have that to you in a jiffy. But don't worry about Rihn and Winter, I overheard their conversation last night, both seem to be okay." She said confidently before going back to the kitchens. Lynn sighed. "I just get tired of Winter. He's just such a... such a... a drama queen." Lynn complained. Arianna and Loi both paused mid bite, took a look at each other, then at Lynn, then burst out laughing. "That, is entirely accurate." Arianna giggled as she wiped a ghost of a tear from her eyes. Loi just shook his head amid chuckling. "We're just flamboyant group, aren't we? Only three days together and we've fought off a giant monster in the streets, watched a pink haired stranger take down two dozen men without breaking a sweat and became the first registered guild in years." Loi contemplated with laughter. Arianna nodded and the two continued laughing. "I guess we did..." Lynn said, a hint of pride in her voice. Christine returned with Lynn's food. "Eat up. You have a day in the Labyrinth ahead of you, now don't you?" She said as Lynn began wolfing down the food at an inhuman pace. "That's right. Since we have Rihn with us, Winter'll let us go down now." Arianna said, a thoughtful look on her face. "Are you excited?" Christine asked. Lynn shrugged, amid eating. "I don't know what to make of it yet." She answered honestly. "The first floor of the Labyrinth is the easiest of course. And as a group who took down a Ragalope without even trying, I think you'll do fine. It's the lower floors that you have to worry about." Christine explained knowingly. "Christine, what do you know about the first stratum?" Loi asked curiously. The barmaid paused, thinking it over before starting slowly. "The first stratum is said to be a forest of new beginnings. Its like a reflection of an explorer's first hopes, or so I hear. There are a few code 3 monsters, such as the Ragalope, and there's a level 4 monster residing on the third floor. You can't imagine how many deaths have occurred because of these two creatures combined. Many beginner explorers lose their lives to one of these two things." Christine continued, drumming her fingers on the counter-top as she thought. "But compared to these monsters, I hear there is an even worse threat that has arisen on the fifth floor." She trailed off. "And that is..?" Lynn asked, enraptured by Christine's speech. Shrugging bashfully, Christine looked away. "I don't know. It's just a rumor, but there's been activity with the Senate's favoured warriors. I think there might be a mission announced soon for guilds to finish the threat off." She said apologetically. Arianna wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Then we'd better familiarize ourselves with the first floors so we can qualify for this mission. What do you guys think?" She asked the siblings. "I heartily agree, Miss Arianna. When do we leave?" Lynn said confidently as she pushed her cleaned plate away from her.

"Alright team, it's go time." Winter said mysteriously. "Never say that ever again." Lynn objected. Loi nodded in agreement. Pouting, Winter shook his head and continued. "Well, you guys will be going into the Labyrinth for the first time. It's really important that you stick together!" He said adamantly. "The monsters on the first floor might appear to be easy, but they're harder then you think! Your goal is to make a map of the first floor then come strait back, okay?" Winter finished, taking a moment to look each of them in the eyes. "Sounds easy enough." Rihn chirped, coiling and uncoiling her whip as Winter spoke. She stretched out, then blinked as Hali chided from the locket, "Aren't you forgetting something?" "Umm... Oh yeah!" Rihn shouted as she dug through the knapsack on her back. The other four looked on curiously as Rihn pulled four mirrored charm from her bag triumphantly. "Here! Everyone take one!" She cheered. "What are they?" Arianna asked as she gently laid one around her neck. "They're special charms Lani and I made for Winter. With these babies, he can see what we're doing down in the Labyrinth at any given moment cuz' he can't go down with us. Now we can still be together even when we're not!" Rihn explained happily. Winter stared at the mirror, amazed to see four reflections of himself from different angles. The four images were his friend's view of him. He grew deathly quiet. "Winter..?" Rihn began unsurely. Sniffling could be heard emitting from the purple hood. "I-I've never received such a nice present before..." Winter Chocked. Arianna looked like she was about to say something, but Winter continued, oblivious of her. "I just can't believe any of this. I've been back in town for five days and I've already got an amazing guild to back me up. I just want each and every one of you to know how much I appreciate you guys, and I'll do anything in my power to make this Guild the best it can be." He said, tears becoming visible as they slid down his face. Arianna smiled and offered a hand, Loi put his on top of hers, Rihn and Lynn followed the suit. They looked to Winter expectantly. Chocking down more tears and breaking into the widest smile any of them had ever seen, Winter put his hand on top of the others. "Wingless, because we'll reach the sky someday." He said as they drew out. "Now go have fun in the Labyrinth." Winter finished.

The path to the Labyrinth waited for them, beckoning them in. Arianna stood back, looking over the skyline and checking the mapping supplies she held in her hands. She had been put in charge of creating the map and was filled with nervous energy as they walked the path to the entrance. Rihn slowed down her quick gait to walk alongside Arianna. "How're you doing?" She asked excitedly. Arianna smiled nervously. "Alright I suppose. The last time I was actually out in the field like this though... something bad happened." She confessed. Rihn tilted her head. "Well, you have us to rely on now, and Winter, right Winter?" Rihn said as she tapped her mirrored pendant. Arianna nodded. "I know. Well, we'd better hurry up. Mapping is far easier when theres still light to write by." She murmured as they met the Knight standing guard at the entrance. The Knight looked them over, it was a different knight then the one Winter met on his first day. "You're Wingless?" He said knowingly. Loi nodded. The knight studied the four in turn. "Well, first let me say, Congratulations. It's not very often a new guild is accepted, you must be rather special and very lucky to accomplish this." He continued with a grin. "But now onto business. You were issued a mission by the Senate, it's a mission that all Guilds are bestowed to prove their worth. Your mission, is to simply make a map of the first floor." The knight explained. "There will be certain paths you can't access yet, we know this already, just put symbols like that one," he pointed to a symbol on the side of the empty map Arianna held, "when you reach a path you can't follow. Any other questions?" He finished with a quip. The four shook their heads and thanked the man for his advice as they proceeded forward. "Good luck!" He called as they walked down towards the entrance of the labyrinth.


	8. Into the Labyrinth

8: Into the Labyrinth

The path led to a set of stairs that spiraled down. The Dark hunter, The Alchemist, The Protector and the Survivalist followed the path with slight trepidation. To their surprise, what waited at the bottom was a pink swirling vortex. "How do we enter this..?" Lynn asked with confusion as they stared down into it. Rihn shrugged. "We jump?" She suggested, the leapt into the vortex. Arianna gasped. "Rihn!" She shouted. A few suspenseful moments later, Rihn stepped out of the vortex, rubbing her hip. "I don't recommend jumping. It's just stairs." She whined as Hali sniggered. Lynn tightened her grip on her bow. "Alright then, here goes nothing." She said slowly as she slowly stepped into the pink circle. Her vision went white for a short moment, then recovered moments later. Like Rihn had said, she stood in a stone stairwell. Shortly after she stepped in, Arianna, Loi and Rihn followed. With a nod to them, Lynn trotted down the stairs until she could see an opening. "What the..?" She murmured to herself as she looked out the doorway. Light met her eyes as she stepped into a lush forest. "Whoa.." Arianna breathed as she stepped into the light. Rihn and Loi were behind them. "How could that dark stairway... lead to this?" Loi ask curiously as he looked back down the stairwell. Instead of coming back to join the three women, the Alchemist continued down the staircase. A few seconds later, he called out. "There are more stairs!"

Rihn looked down the stairwell. "Well I'll be." She murmured. The staircase continued winding down; light could be streaming in from other doorways. Slowly, she started walking down the stairs. "Rihn, what are you doing?" Lynn hissed. "I just want to look at the other doors." Rihn hissed in reply. "I don't think that's a good idea..." Loi said cautiously, a troubled look on his face. Rihn pouted. "Oh pooh, I'll be back real fast, okay!?" She jeered, and then ran down the steps. "Stop!" Arianna shouted, running after her. "Arianna!" Loi shouted, but was held back by Lynn. "She's got this." Lynn said confidently as the two women ran out of sight.

Rihn got close to the second doorway. She excitedly reached forward to touch the door way when a shield went flying past her face. Rihn froze with shock as the shield met an unseen barrier in the doorway and went up with a puff of smoke. Slowly, she turned around to see Arianna standing on the stairs, bristling. "Don't." Arianna warned. Rihn nodded meekly and stepped away from the door. "This is the Labyrinth. If solving each floor was as simple as running down a flight of stairs, then there wouldn't be so many people dead. Do you understand?" Arianna said, a menacing air surrounding her. Rihn seemed to shrink under the woman's words. "I'm... sorry." She said quietly. Arianna nodded but said nothing in reply. With a sharp turn, The Protector strode up the steps, Rihn following.

Loi and Lynn had already scanned the area around the staircase entry. What was odd was the foliage so thickly covered either side of the staircase, they couldn't even tell if the stairs were connected to anything. Arianna and Rihn exited the staircase soon after. Gracing Loi with a smile, Arianna's hand rested on her sword. "Have you found anything?" She asked the two. Lynn shook her head. "Just a bunch of trees so far, But then again, you didn't give us long to search." She said smoothly. Arianna nodded in reply. "Then let's continue our adventure." The protector said pleasantly before striding through the path in between the trees. Lynn shot Rihn a questioning look, which she replied with a meager shrug that seemed rather disheartened for the pink haired girl. "Coming?" Arianna called. With another exchange of looks, Rihn and Lynn rushed to catch up with Arianna and Loi, who had already marched onwards.

A large clearing with a cross road just beyond it met them as they followed the path. Arianna took careful note on the map as they did so. "So which way do we go?" Rihn asked as she looked between the three path options. "Left." Lynn replied, already scouting a little way down said path. "Why Left?" Rihn asked, confused. "Why not?" Was Lynn's answer. Without a better argument, the three followed Lynn down the path. "Did you notice something?" Loi asked Rihn as they walked together. "Like what? We should be underground but I can still see the sun shining?" She replied, looking up at the clear blue sky. "My thoughts exactly." Was his reply as he joined her in gazing at the sky. A rustling made them freeze in their tracks. "Did you hear that?" Rihn asked as her hand moved towards her whip. Loi nodded silently, backing behind Rihn and withdrawing a card of electricity. A shadow emerged from the underbrush as a pink mouse, the size of a large dog, scampered across their past. Rihn let out a shriek and with several cracks of her whip, finished off the poor creature before it could even let out a squeak. "Ah..! Sorry.. That really startled me!" Rihn breathed apologetically to Loi as he moved forward to examine the corpse. Like the Ragealope in the street, after a few seconds of lying there, the corpse was absorbed into the ground. All that remained of the mouse was now it's pink pelt. Loi picked it up, inspecting it from all angles before putting it in his rucksack. He turned back to Rihn. "Its finished, now come on. Lynn and Arianna are far ahead of us now. We'll have to sprint to catch up." Speaking calmly, Loi moved to Rihn's side as she turned back down the path. "Alright then." She said, regaining some of her vigor as they jogged down the path.

"Look!" Lynn called out to Arianna as they strode down the path. "A dead end..." Arianna murmured as they reached the end of the path. Lynn looked around, checking in the bushes. "So what do we do now?" She asked as Arianna jotted down the path they took on the map. "We go back and take one of the other paths I suppose." Arianna said. Something caught her eye in the underbrush as Lynn stepped out of it though. "Hey, what was that?" She asked as Lynn returned to her side. "What was what?" Lynn asked, peering back the direction in which she just came. Arianna approached what she saw, slowly drawing her sword from it's sheath. To her relief, it just turned out to be a boot. Lynn studied the boot from over her shoulder. "Well, that was awfully anticlimactic." She groaned. Arianna rolled her eyes, about to toss the boot back where she found it when she felt something rattle inside of it. Tipping over the boot, Arianna watched as a perfect white stone rolled onto her hand. "Oooh! Whats that?" Lynn asked, finally interested. "Not sure, some kind of ore I've never seen before! It could be worth something." Arianna speculated as she moved to put it in her bag. "ARIANNA! LYNN! LOOK OUT!" someone yelled. Lynn barely had time to look up when she saw three mice, the size of a pony, charge out of the underbrush. "Look out!" Lynn repeated as she knocked Arianna out of their path. Rihn and Loi, who were the ones who cried out, already had their weapons drawn. Rihn's whip flied as Loi sent out three cards. Unfortuneatly, the timing of their attack coincided so perfectly, that Rihn's whip hit all three of the cards, burning the tip of the whip to a crisp. "No!" Rihn shrieked as she dropped the sizzling whip. Loi pushed her out of the way as one of the mice moved to tackle her. By this time, Lynn finally had unstrung her bow and released two arrows at one of the beasts. With a shriek, it fell to the ground, melting into the ground like other monsters did. Arianna had also gotten to her feet with her sword drawn out, but as she reached to grab her shield, she realized that it had been destroyed earlier. "Lynn!" She shouted as the monster lashed out as them. But it was too late, Lynn was hit by the barreling monster. With a moan, she fell to the side, the monster moving to make it's final blow when something exploded over it's head. The monster let out a wail as another person charged up the path, brandishing a sword and what looked like a pouch of fire. "Get out of the way!" This new person yelled as he approached the monster. The four members of wingless obliged as the stranger took his sword and hit the monster dead on. The monster fell to the ground, defeated. The third creature had escaped when it saw the second fall. The four watched as the monster disappeared into the ground, leaving a pelt. The man who rescued them sheathed his blade. Taking a moment to look at the four members of Wingless, the man nodded at the pelt. "So, do any of you want it? Or can I take it?" He asked. "Umm, sure, go ahead." Rihn said unsuredly. The man gave her a grin. "Sweet! Thanks!" He said happily as he added the pelt to a bag on his waist. A brief glimpse of the contents showed that there were already several pelts inside. "So, you all are new, aren't you?" The man said as he tucked his bag close. "Yep." Lynn groaned from the ground. "It's pretty obvious, your teamwork is terrible. Here," He said, tossing a white jar to Arianna. "that's a medica. You can use it to help your friend there." Arianna nodded a quick thanks before taking the medicine out and giving it to Lynn. "Who are you?" Rihn asked as she picked up her now useless whip. "The name's Blake. I'm a Soloist Landsknecht... Wait a sec, are you the new guild?" Blake asked, looking from member to member. "That's right, we're Wingless." Loi said confidently. "Well I'll be! You all stirred up quite the ruckus, you know! Even amoung us Soloists, you're infamous!" Blake whistled with a grin plastered across his face. "Infamous?" Arianna asked confusedly. "I'll explain that in a bit. But right now, you need to get your friend there and get out of here. Your Huntress is weaponless, your Survivalist is barely surviving and your protector isn't going to do much protecting without a shield. Leaving is your best option at the moment." Blake said knowingly. Rihn looked ready to kill at his comment, but grudgingly joined Loi in picking Lynn up hoisting the petite girl onto Loi's back. Blake watched their movements with a nod of approval. "Since you'll probably be slaughtered if you run into anything else, I'll accompany you to the exit. Free of charge." Blake chuckled as he withdrew his sword again with his left hand. That was something Loi had noticed, Blake used his left hand for everything. So without much more being said, the four plus Blake began to slowly make their way back to the exit.

Well, not much was said at first. Mostly because Rihn, the chatterbox, was too upset with the situation to really say anything. But as it turns out, Blake was quite talkative as well. He talked about his first time in the Labyrinth, along with his trouble with employers and such. Blake didn't seem like such a bad guy, he definitely had an air of professionalism. What really bothered Loi the most though was Blake Right hand. Blake didn't use it for anything. "What happened to your hand?" Loi finally asked, (rather bluntly too the Narrator must add.) Blake shook his head with another chuckle. "Rather observant, aren't you?" Loi said nothing, simply waiting for Blake's response. "Keep your pants on, kid. Maybe I'll tell you someday, but not now. I don't tend to reveal secrets to greens I just met." He finished abruptly as they reached the stairs. "Well, the area around here is safe. I'll bid you a good day, sir and madams." Blake said with a tip of the imaginary cap before turning and heading back into the Labyrinth. They watched him go. "His right hand was wooden." Arianna stated, confirming Loi's observation. "Well then, he didn't have to be so dramatic, nor rude about it." Rihn grumbled. "Think about it, nitwit. He said he was a Soloist. Just think of how many jobs a one-handed swordsman gets! Of course he'd be a bit secretive and sensitive about it!" Hali acutely corrected from the locket. "Hali's right. Just let it go for now. Something tells me we'll be seeing that man again sometime." Arianna said smoothly as she trekked up the stairs. With one last glance at the path Blake took, Rihn followed the others up the stairs and back to the town.


	9. To Regroup

9: To Regroup

Winter was literally pacing back and forth on the path outside of the Labyrinth as Loi, Lynn, Arianna and Rihn emerged from the forest. "Thank heavens you're all okay!" Winter shouted as he ran over. "I wouldn't entirely say we're all okay..." Loi said quietly as Lynn groaned on his back. Winter peered at Lynn. "Lynn-girl! Buck up! You'll be alright!" He said in what he must've thought to be an encouraging manner. Unfortunately, Lynn found Winter's voice annoying on even a good day, not even including when she was angry and injured. If you listened close, you might've heard her grunt something about ripping out 'someone's'vocal cords and beating 'someone' violently with them. "I think we should stop by the hospital. We may not be able to purchase medicines, but they might be able to fix up Lynn." Arianna explained, a bit of an edge on her voice that no one picked up on. "I know.. where the hospital.. is.." Lynn groaned. "Oh no, you aren't do anymore work, missy. Consider yourself on temporary break. Just think of how much trauma you got from getting barreled over by that pink mouse!" Winter said, obviously upset. Winter desperately needed to learn how to phrase his sentences better, for that last comment nearly had Loi in stitches. With a kick, Lynn quickly silenced Loi's mirth. "That mean Landsknecht was right though... our teamwork is terrible." Rihn said quietly, winding and unwinding what was left of her whip. "You're going to need a new weapon." Winter said, looking at Rihn. "And you'll need a new shield." He said, looking at Arianna. Arianna rolled her eyes, something that was abnormal for her. "Just add that to the list of things we can't get at the moment. Our hands are tied until we can finish that first floor map. But we can't do a thing if we don't have medicas or a healer. Yet, we can't purchase from the locals without finishing the first floor. And what recruit would want to join a guild so new that we haven't even finished our first quest?" Arianna said angriliy. The other four looked at her in shock. The normally calm and encouraging girl had an air of darkness around her as she spoke. The only person who had witnessed that was Rihn when she had tried running down an extra set of stairs. It was like there was an invisible barrier around the girl that manifested itself for a few simple moments. But it was enough to snuff out conversation between them entirely. "...Well, first, let's patch up Lynn. We'll get to the other matter later." Winter finally mumbled, affected by Arianna's negativity as much as everyone else. With a nod to Loi, they turned and walked back into the city

It was very disheartening. After Lynn was healed, they all headed back for the inn. But when they arrived, Arianna left, telling none of them of where she was going. Lynn sulked mostly, angry at herself for getting hurt and making them retreat. Loi read through one of his Alchemist books, but under closer inspection, you would notice that even he looked slightly troubled. It was surprising, to see how much they had depended on Arianna on these past few days, and with just a few words she literally knocked them all off their feet. Rihn wandered. It was what she had always done when she was thinking. Eventually, she found herself sitting on the roof. She didn't quite remember how she got up there, only that it involved two different windows and a strong rod. "You've picked some interesting people to travel with." Hali said in a sing-songy voice. "Yeah... They do remind me a lot of the people back at the house..." Rihn answered, not really into the conversation. "Really? I'd take them more as the Dark Hunters you used to run with. The REAL dark hunters, not the shams like you are." Hali chuckled maliciously. "Please, not now Hali." Rihn said tiredly. "That Protector girl? Oh she had an ENOURMOUS amount of bitterness in her heart. But don't take it personally; she's just used to being mistreated. So she'll mistreat all of you to get her anger out." Hali continued, voice growing. "Stop it!" Rihn groaned, but voice failing. "And Loi? Man, oh man, you'd wonder why he hasn't KILLED anybody yet! The horrors he has SEEN and the secrets that he keeps would make even Hellen squirm like the insect she is!" Hali Shouted. "S-stop it..." Rihn barely squeaked. "Stop it? Rihn, oh Rihn... I think you always forget something. You can't make me stop. You may keep smiling like you always do, but you've made your choices. You'll always have me, telling you what you already know. So I suggest you get over it and listen more about what your comrades truly are!" Hali cackled. "I think that's quite enough." Came a new voice. Rihn whirled around. Winter was standing behind her on the very peak of the roof. "Winter..." Rihn mumbled, wiping away the tears she didn't realize she was crying. "Hali, be quiet. I think you've said quite enough." Winter said sternly, taking a seat beside Rihn. "Why should I?" Hali sang. "I think you know why, Miss 'know-it-all.'" Winter said quietly. Silence enveloped the group. Rihn looked at the locket in surprise. "How did you get her to-..?" Rihn asked slowly. Winter gave her a tiny grin as he pulled a rectangular chocolate bar out of his pocket. Unpeeling the wrapper, Winter looked out over the top the city as the evening sun cast a lovely glow. "Rihn, you may not realize this, but you're not the only one with a Hali. All humans got it, but you've got one with a REAAL surly personality and a voice that shouts louder then reason. You don't have to listen to her you know." Winter said, offering Rihn a corner piece of chocolate. Slowly taking the Chocolate, Rihn looked over the Mysterious Winter again, wondering just who he was. A pause seemed to rest between them as Winter waited for Rihn to eat. "Rihn... I know that I didn't get four perfect angels in my guild. And I understand that each of us will have something we'd rather leave behind. But burdens are the silent killer. If you carry that much stress with you down in the Labyrinth, well, we'll keep having repeats of today." Rihn listened as Winter continued. "I know, it's not going to be easy, but, as friends, can you let me carry you burdens with you? Hali isn't someone you're going to have to face by yourself." He said as he smiled at her.

Silence enveloped them. Winter began to lose his smile as he stared at Rihn's unreadable face. "Uh, Rihn? Yoo-hoo?" He asked, waving his hand in front of her face. Rihn finally blinked. Then blinked again. And then came the waterworks. Great sobs wracked Rihn's entire body. "Hey there.. None of that now..." Winter said kind of awkwardly as he pulled Rihn into a friendly embrace. Rihn shook her head and drew back. "Winter, you sure are something." She smiled through tears. "Obviously!" Winter chuckled as he took a bite from his chocolate. Rihn just shook her head and gazed out onto the streets. "Hey.." She began slowly, tapping Winter's arm. "Hm?" Winter began, looking out to where Rihn was. "Hey, Arianna's back." He said cheerfully as the familiar blond Protector entered the inn below. "..do you think Hali was right about her?" Rihn asked as Arianna walked out of sight. Winter shrugged. "Who knows? But if there's one thing I've learned about Arianna over these past few days is that she's very strong and very reliable. She won't let this... whatever this is, hold her back from being the best Guildmate she can be. We've just got to trust her." Winter said confidently. "Huh, trusting people I've known for just about a day and a half. Definitely different." Rihn thought aloud then broke into chuckles. It was true though, Winter and the others were almost strangers to her. Yet, she was already trusting them more then she had realized. Winter got to his feet, brushing off his hands. "Well, let's go see if Arianna's cooled down." He cheered, offering Rihn a hand. She took it, and the two headed back inside as the sun set.

Loi glanced up from his as Arianna entered the main room of the rented apartments. "Welcome back." He said simply. She nodded once in return, her face unreadable. Lynn, who heard Loi's greeting, looked up as well as Arianna walked into the room. "Well, I thought that you had run off for good." Lynn grumbled. Arianna chuckled tiredly. "Lynn, I think a nap would be good for you. You seem a little grumpy." Lynn's face turned beet red and she said nothing. Loi looked between his sister and Arianna. "You look in need of rest as well Arianna, where were you?" He asked, trying to read her mien. Arianna took a seat beside Loi of the slanting sofa (The one Loi broke.) "Just doing some research around the city. More specifically, I was looking for medics interesting in guilds." Arianna confessed. "Any luck?" Loi asked, not looking surprised. "Maybe. There were a few staying at Rooster's Inn who had came for the initial guild joining. They felt their tries were unsuccessful however, and we may be able to recruit them, if only part time." She explained, her gaze never leaving Loi. He nodded, satisfied. "Then why don't you and Lynn go get some rest? I'll explain everything to Winter when he comes back." He offered. Arianna smiled weakly. "That sounds like a great idea, thank you Loi." She stood up after saying that, walking to Lynn's side. "Come on, Lynn. We can go use the bathhouse next door." Lynn looked away, but stood up. Arianna gave Loi one last grin as they headed out the door. They bumped into Winter and Rihn as they were leaving though. "Hey shouty! Feeling better?" Winter said not-so-discreetly. Arianna simply shook her head with a small smile. "Yes, I'm doing better, but shouty?" She asked. Winter shrugged, looking content with her answer. "Where are you and Lynn going?" Rihn asked. "We're just going next door. You can come with us if you like." Arianna answered, never losing her poise. Looking a bit unsure, Rihn paused to take a quick glance at Lynn, who shrugged. "...Okay then. We'll see you later Winter." Rihn said cheerily as she joined the other two women. Winter waved as they left, wondering if Arianna really was okay.

Markus, the man who worked at the Senate, filed away paperwork, it was what he always did at the end of the day. As he was busy, he barely even looked up as the door at the other end of the hall opened, letting a trio in from the outside. "Can I help you?" He asked without looking up. "Where's Percy?" A gruff voice asked. Markus looked up in surprise, for the voice belonged to the right hand man of the head of the most successful guild in the city, The Explorer's guild (which had a terribly unimaginative name.) "He was fired. I'm the Chief scribe here now. So I shall ask again, can I help you?" Markus asked briskly, putting the papers back in his desk with a snap. The man paused, looking at the men beside him, then back to Markus. "Aye, we we're trying to find out some more about this 'new guild' rumored to have started." The man finally said. Markus adjusted his glasses. "Have you, perhaps, tried going to the actual guild itself and asking about it?" He said in a condoning manner. The man's facial features tightened for a mere second at Markus' cool remark. "Actually, we we're trying to remain low-key about our curiosity... Just trying to find some backrounds of the members to make sure there will be no future conflicts cause by them. We wouldn't want them feeling... threatened by our sudden interest, you could say." The man replied smoothly. Markus considered his words for a moment, but shook his head. "Your fears are understandable, but the files for each member can only be read or taken with the consent of the Guild's leader. There's nothing I can do about this situation. My apologies." Markus explained as he locked the drawers and began organizing the records of discovery that also lay upon his desk. His organizing was cut short as the man slammed his hand down on the page Markus was on. Markus returned the man's gaze, unimpressed, but the man's demeanor was different. Almost as if he was... A Monster, strait from the Labyrinth itself. Something bad might've happened at this point, but luck was on Markus' side. "Good evening, is everything alright here?" Came the strong voice of Ren. Ren and Tlachtga, two of the strongest warriors in the entire land, walked into the hall of the Senate. The man looked between the Women and Markus, with a shake of his head he turned away. "It's fine. We were just leaving." He said crisply as he sauntered towards the exit. Ren crossed her arms as she watched the three leave the building. Tlachtga stayed near her side, and as soon as they were gone you could hear her faint voice saying "They had awful intent... I could feel it." Ren shook her head. "Where men like that go, disaster is sure to follow." With that, she looked back to Markus. "What was it did they want?" She asked. Markus didn't look away from the doors as he answered. "The new Guild; they wanted the profiles of their members." He said shortly. Ren raised an eyebrow. "There's a new Guild?" "Yes, and so far, it seems everyone's got an interest in them." Markus replied. Tlachtga clutched her stuffed rabbit toy as the two spoke, looking at the door uneasily. "So then, Markus, what is your take on the Guild?" Ren asked. Markus paused, tapping his fingers against his desk as he thought. "Well, they don't seem to be overly extraordinary... The Dark Huntress and the Guild leader were the oddest of the lot. But even then, I think most of this curiosity is merely for the guild." Markus admitted, trying to think of the details of the members when he had first seen them. Ren seemed satisfied with this answer; she nodded once and glanced over at Tlachtga. "...It's an omen." Tlachtga muttered. Red nodded. "My thoughts as well, my friend, my thoughts exactly." As they turned to leave, Ren and Tlachtga bade Markus one last farewell. Markus nodded as the two women left, wondering what kind of omen this meant.

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**A/n: Yay, more talking from me. Sorry I keep taking forever to post n'stuff. Have nice lives everyone ^^**

**Err... ... I actually forgot what I was going to say. I'm really sorry...**

**Okay, I remembered. There's a Poll for The story up. The Question is regarding what kind of recruits Wingless will get. If convenient, go and vote on which classes you would like to see. If inconvenient, vote anyways, hooligans.**

**KTHXBYE **


	10. To Triumph

10: To Triumph

The sun rose the next morning as it always had. Lynn stretched out in the practice field. "You sure you'll be alright?" Loi asked from behind her. Lynn glanced back and stuck out her tongue as an answer. Rolling his eyes, Loi followed Lynn as she strung her bow and headed out to the target range.

Rihn, Arianna and Winter stood a little ways away inside a dirt circle. "You said you can use swords, right Rihn?" Winter asked as Rihn tested the balance of the sword Winter somehow managed to procure. "Yup! I'm not as good with it as I am with whips, but I'll definitely be able to use this." Rihn said cheerily as she took up a loose fighting stance. Arianna gave her a curt nod. "Then, let's begin the match." She said, drawing into a defensive position. "Remember, don't hurt each other!" Winter called as he stepped out of the boundary. "I'll do my best." Rihn said, studying Arianna. She wouldn't admit it, but she was a little afraid of the Protector. Even without her shield, it her defense seemed pretty solid. Arianna gave Rihn a polite smile. "You may strike." She invited. Rihn clutched her weapon, a bit of a sick grin crept on her face as instinct honed by the Dark Hunters kicked in. And without another word, Rihn struck.

"I've no doubt it my mind. You're all ready to go back down to the Labyrinth!" Winter cheered to his four guild members. They looked a little worn out from the training, but each of them smiled when Winter gave his verdict. "What about a Medic?" Lynn asked. Winter scratched the back of his hood. "We'll be interviewing them tonight. But I'm pretty sure as long as you guys stick together in a group, you'll be fine. Besides, you also have the medicas. If you get too badly injured, then you can always escape." Winter explained. Loi answered for the four of them. "We'll be careful." He said confidently. Looking each of them in the eye, Winter nodded. "I'll be watching as well. Stay safe, alright?" He finished. "Will do!" Rihn said cheerfully. Winter smiled. "Good! I'll be doing some business in town then, have a great day guys!" Winter cheered again before running off. "...Didn't he just say he was going to watch us?" Lynn said flatly as they watched Winter run off with the excitement of a youth in a confection broker. "Well, I'm pretty sure we'll be fine, with or without Winter goofing off." Arianna speculated, mirth evident in her voice. Lynn rolled her eyes as she turned back down the wooded path to the Labyrinth.

The staircase was just as dark and damp as it was the first time they went down. But this time, Lynn paid more attention to detail. The stairs were carved out of stone, the type of stone however, Lynn could not tell. Ivy climbed the walls, stretching towards the pink portal as if they were trying to escape the dark stairwell. The walls were so grimy that Lynn could barely tell what they looked like, only that there was a faint glimmer of purple through the dirt. The doorway to the forest was paved with the same stone of the stairs. "Something wrong, Lynn?" Rihn asked as she followed her through doorway. Lynn glanced past her, down the stairwell. The stairs went down too far for her to see anything more. Realizing Rihn was still waiting for an answer, Lynn quickly shook her head. Rihn watched Lynn for maybe another minute or so, then shrugged and continued down the path. After a short amount of walking, they once more reached the crossroads, only this time, there was two people there. Blake was speaking with a soldier in a somewhat angry manner. The soldier looked over as Wingless approached, cutting Blake off from what he was saying. "The path here is closed for today!" The Soldier shouted. Blake rolled his eyes. "Closed?" Arianna asked, confused. The Soldier nodded once then returned to silence. "Don't try getting anything more out of him. He hasn't told me anything besides that either." Blake grumbled. "But sir! We have to finish mapping the first floor!" Rihn argued. The Soldier shook his head. "Charting the rest of the paths, excluding this one, will suffice for your quest." He explained. Blake looked ready to shout, he turned to Wingless to get some support but was more surprised to see them turning down the right path without another arguement. "Hey, wait!" He shouted as he jogged after them.

Arianna kept neat check of where they walked. "Don't you want to know why they're keeping that place off-limits?" Blake yelled as he finally caught up. Loi shrugged. "That's their business. For now, we'll focus on ours." He said simply as he mildly studied an intricate looking flower in the path. "But I have business back there, and I can't get back there on my own." Blake said with exasperation. "Well, I'm afraid it'll have to wait then. You're welcome to join us on this floor though." Arianna answered, not looking up from the map parchment. "Oi! Guys!" Lynn said sharply, drawing her bow as something moved through the brush. A butterfly the size of a bird came darting through the path, followed by a pink mouse. With two quick shots, Lynn took down both assailants as her teammates withdrew their weapons. She looked back at them and shrugged as she went to retrieve the remaining prizes. Blake rolled his eyes as the other three put their weapons away. "Your teamwork is just as awful as it was yesterday." He scoffed. "No one asked you!" Lynn chided as she tucked a blue wing and a mouse pelt into her rucksack. "I'm serious though!" Blake called as they continued walking down the path. "You may not think it's important now, but on the next floor, it's vital to work as a cohesive unit. If you don't, then it's lights out." He said gravely. Rihn glanced back at him. "Coming from the 'Soloist?'" She scoffed. Blake crossed her arms. "I wasn't always a soloist." He said coldly. The sneer was wiped from Rihn's face. Loi and Arianna turned to look at the Landsknecht. Blake rolled his eyes. "Oh forget it. If you know what your doing, then great. I'll just hunt on this floor until they open they next one." With a turn, he withdrew his sword and proceeded to where the path split up right ahead. "I'll see you later... maybe." He said crisply as he turned left and vanished from sight, leaving the four newbie explorers wondering about his ominous warning.

More exploration of the floor showed many interesting discoveries. Warm meadows, safe from monsters, beckoned all who walked by to rest. A great crystal door stood mysteriously in a clump of trees, unable to be opened. "Just mark it on the map for now, I don't think we'll be able to find what's beyond it yet." Loi told Arianna as they passed by. A spring trickled at the very South-Eastern area of the floor. The four took a long break to drink to their heart's content as they mapped their area. They didn't run into Blake again, nor did they find any other explorers. But even without the accompaniment of other humans, the forest was still a beautiful place. Monsters would occasionally make themselves known on the paths, but it wouldn't take long to finish them off. This time, they were prepared for ambushes. There was, however, one particular monster that gave them quite a bit of trouble. It looked like some sort of crab, with glowing red eyes within it's blue shell. Physical attacks proved useless against it, Thankfully Loi's alchemist cards slipped through it's shell. Another lucky thing was that the crab-thing traveled alone. If it had traveled with more of those mice, then the guild might've met their end already. "I think we're done." Arianna said as they rested beside a berry bush, found to be full of fresh and delicious berries. "Excellent! That means we're done with the quest!" Rihn cheered as she popped another berry into her mouth. "We have to return to the Senate first, but yes, we should be done with the Quest." Arianna said happily. "So how do we get out from here?" Loi asked as he moved next to Arianna to study the map. She pointed to where they were on the map. "If we take this path then it should lead right back to the entrance." She explained as she traced her fingers across the paths. "Wait a sec, Ari, I want to stop there before we leave." Lynn interjected, pointing at a clearing they passed before. "Why?" Arianna and Loi asked in unison. Standing, Lynn tapped her foot against the ground impatiently. "I just do, okay? It won't hurt to take five minutes to check a clearing." She groaned. Rihn shrugged. "I don't have anything against that." "Neither do I." Loi said quietly. Arianna rolled up the map and stood back up. "Alright then, we'll stop there before we leave." She consented.

A short while later, they were in the small clearing that Lynn had pointed out. "The area around here has good material. We could come back another time and just forage." She explained, but it wasn't the reason she wanted to come back. After poking around a bit longer, Lynn removed a bush to reveal a tiny path leading to the stairwell of the Labyrinth. "I noticed the footprints around it earlier." She beamed. The four followed the short path back to the stairs and back into the natural evening sunlight of Largeon. The guard standing watch at the mouth of the wooded road gave them a wave as they passed through. "Evening, kids! How did the exploration go?" He said merrily. Rihn gave him a thumbs-up as they passed. "We'll be exploring different floors in no time!" She said triumphantly. "That's great to hear!" The old soldier chuckled. "Hey, do you know that Soloist Landsknecht? I think his name was Blake.." Lynn began slowly. The soldier nodded. "I've been watching this here road for many years, my dear, I know most of the adventurers. Although, the kid who watches this path during the day is a lot more familiar with the new explorers nowadays..." The soldier said wistfully. "But yes, Blake, he's been coming here for a few years now. He used to have a few mates he went down with, but they were killed by one of the monsters on the third floor... A shame, really." He finished sadly. A frown creased over Rihn's lips as she looked back to the ground, guiltily. Lynn nodded and thanked the man; who gave a cheerful wave as they walked into the city. "I wonder what kind of monster lives on the third floor..." Lynn trailed off as they walked back to the inn. Loi shrugged. "Who knows? We'll find out soon enough." He said, as Winter came charging down the road. "GUYS! I SAW YOU FINISHED THE MAP!" He shouted gleefully as he reached them. After taking a few moments to regain his breath, Winter beamed at all of them. "Do you know what this means?!" He said excitedly. "Winter, I'm pretty sure we all know what it means. We were all here when the guy at the Senate explained the differences between registered guilds." Lynn said tiredly. Winter shot her a glare and rolled his eyes (At least we assume so.) "This means a lot more then you think! We have to go to the interviews right now, but tomorrow, when we go back to the Senate, big things will start happened for us!" He said in an overly-mysterious tone of voice. "Winter, stop trying so hard. You'll hurt somebody." Lynn groaned, but even with the negative commentary, a grin was slicked on her lips. Arianna handed the completed map to Winter. "Take a good look, this is our first Triumph in the Labyrinth. The first of whats to come." She said happily. "Woohooo! We're gonna be the first ever to reach the bottom of the Labyrinthhh!" Rihn shouted with glee as Winter looked over the map. "You bet we are!" Winter said excitedly as he rolled up the map. The others began walking to the location they agreed on for the interview, but Winter stood there and extra minute, looking at the map clenched in his hands. "...You bet we are..." He said wistfully as he turned and joined his guildmates to look for new recruits.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, my name is Jay. I woke up extra early to write a chapter four pages long. Enjoy~**


	11. Recruiting

11: Recruitment

The sun had set by the time the Five members of Wingless made their way to Rooster's Inn. The Inn was a quaint place, used by most explorers of the Labyrinth for personal living quarters. One of the darker details is how most borders last only a few months before they either give up on the Labyrinth, or... worse. Needless to say, space opened up frequently in the inn. The young man running the front desk gave them a cheerful grin. "Will you be staying with us?" He asked Winter. Winter shook his head. "No thank you, we're just visiting some of our friends." He apologized. Funny enough, the man's expression didn't change at all as they left the lobby and headed towards the meeting room. "Was it just me, or was that guy kind of creepy..." Rihn murmured to Lynn as the walked down the hall. Lynn looked back down the hallway and shook her head. "I've met enough weirdos in this town to not pay heed to it anymore." She whispered back. "That's tru- Hey!" Rihn hissed as Lynn laughed, getting weird looks from the other three. Eventually, they reached the large oak doors that led to the meeting room. "Whelp, here's hoping!" Winter said cheerily as he pushed open the doors.

Three people stood inside. For a moment, each party stood in silence, staring at each other, when Winter finally broke the silence by shouting. "Hello! We're Wingless!" One of the three, a man in a white coat with orange hair pulled back with several strands sticking up in odd direction, chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Ah yes, hello." He said politely. The other two shared and glance and shrugged. The orange-haired man glanced back at the other two. "Oh, I forget my manners, please forgive me." He said smoothly, offering a quick bow before continuing. "My name is Arin, this is Caili and Pat." Arin explained as he introduced himself and the two next to him. A woman with a shy smile and golden hair gave a half-curtsey, Caili, the Guild members presumed. The other, a tannish man with short, curly, brown hair nodded. Thankfully, Arianna took over at this point before Winter could scare them off by asking weird question. Weird questions may have worked on odd people like Rihn and Loi, but these folks seemed pretty normal. Or at least, that's the narrator's opinion. If you don't like it, then shut up and go read someone else's fanfiction.(Actually, please don't.) With a warm smile, Arianna brought one at a time into a separate room so they current members of Wingless could interview them. The first up was the man named Arin.

Arin had barely sat down in the chair Loi brought in when Winter leapt to his feet, shouting. "WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE COLOR!?1!?" A silence enveloped the room. "You're not supposed to do that in interviews." Lynn hissed at Winter. Arin looked a bet bemused and slowly answered. "...Green?" Winter nodded. "You're in!" He said happily. Arianna gave Arin another warm smile and proceeded to slam Winter in the back of his head with Loi's Alchemist tome. "Forgive me, Arin, but we might need a few minutes more to discuss. Could you send in the next recruit?" "Ari, that REALLLY hurt..." Winter whined as Arin confusedly left the room. Loi was staring at the other wall, but it was obvious his whole body was shaking with silent laughter. Rihn was snorting down laughter herself. "You deserved that one." Lynn said haughtily. Winter rubbed his head. "Okay... I'm sorry... I'll do better in the next one." He whined. Arianna's eyebrow arched up as she handed Loi his tome. "Let's hope so, or else we might not get any recruits at all."

The woman entered next. "Hello everyone, I'm Caili and my favourite colour is Lilac!" She said cheerfully as she took a seat. Winter recoiled in shock. "...Caili? ...And what is it you ARE exactly?" He asked in a strained voice. Caili's brow creased in confusion. "Well, I'm a medic..." She began when Winter leapt to his feet. "MEDIC?! Do you even know what that MEANS?! Your name is CAILI! According to one of the Religions, CAILI is the goddess of DEATH!" Winter shouted, pointing at her accusingly. Caili froze, great big tears welling up in her eyes. "B-but mom always told me..." She began to sob. Lynn and Rihn quickly left their chairs and moved to Caili's side, trying to comfort the poor girl as Arianna grabbed Winter by the ear and pulled him out of the room. Loi, was bent over, out of breath from laughter.

Winter sat stiffly in his chair as Arianna gave him a warm smile; her eyes however, were filled with ice. "Winter, please, let us do the talking in this one, alright?" She said happily, Winter flinched. "Y-yes ma'am." He said nervously. She nodded as the last man, Pat, walked in the room. "Good evening." Was his greeting. Arianna cleared her throat. "Alright then Pat, what is your profession?" She asked. "I'm a Ronin." Pat answered. "A Ronin? You don't look like one..." Winter said slowly. As soon as he opened his mouth, the others groaned. "What are Ronins supposed to look like?" Pat asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, ya know.. They have like, dark hair that's all slicked back and stuff... And the guys walk around without shirts and wear cool sandals..." Winter said, making dramatic hand gestures to explain. "Well, we all can't be born with black hair. As for the attire, it's too cold out to walk around with no shirt and sandals. What, do you think that Ronin's hate clothes or something?" Pat retorted, looking annoyed. "No, I just thought that because of battle scars and stuff they liked to show off." Winter continued. Pat rolled his eyes. "Well, you're mistaken. Dude, do you even know the Ronin's code?" Pat groaned. "There's a Ronin Code? Is there a rule about how to wear shirts in it?" Winter asked, completely blind of the glares he was getting from everyone. "No! It's just a... it's a code to- just- AUGH!" Pat finally yelled, standing up in a huff and leaving the room. Winter finally noticed the glares he was getting. "...Oops." Was his response.

Christine was wiping down glasses as the mysterious Wingless guild walked in. She waved as Arianna, Loi, Rihn and Lynn came as sat at the bar. "Evening guys! Coffee, is it?" She asked as she turned to start brewing. "Gin and tonic." Arianna groaned as she laid her head down on the counter. "I'll have what she's having." Rihn voiced from beside her. Lynn laughed. "I wouldn't ask, Christine. But I'll take one of the same." "No she won't. Lynn's too young for alcohol." Loi interjected. Lynn rolled her eyes angrily as Christine looked between the four. "Did you have a bad day in the Labyrinth or something?" She asked worriedly. "Yeah... something like that." Arianna moaned. Hali was cackling from the locket. "Try Winter~!" She laughed. "Oh, you're back." Rihn said as she looked at the red locket. "Never left. Just didn't feel like saying anything." Hali corrected. "Besides, I'm starving." "How does Hali even eat?" Lynn asked as she looked at the locket. "I'm actually not sure. I just open the locket and the food gets sucked in." Rihn confessed. "I eat like anyone else. With my mouth. Lani's got it harder though, we have to chase down his mouth first before he eats." Hali explained. "chase done his mouth...?" Loi muttered as Christine brought their beverages. "Sorry about your luck, guys. But relax, it's only been about a week and a half since you've been working together, so you're bound to run into trouble. Just rely on each other and you'll be fine." Christine said encouragingly. "..You're right." Arianna admitted as she took a sip from her glass. Just then, Winter came charging into the bar, spotting the four right off the bat. "Guys!" He shouted as he made his way over. "Listen, I'm really sorry about the interviews. It's just sometimes, I let my excitement cloud my judgement and think without speaking... I'm very sorry. And I know that I'm not doing a great job so far as a Guild Master, and I'm okay if you want me to step down or something. I'm just really sorry." Winter chattered quickly as he bowed repeatedly. Arianna shook her head and began chuckling. It wasn't long before the other three broke into laughter. Winter straitened up. "What..? What's so funny..?" He asked, confused. "You, Winter. We're not THAT mad you know... Yeah, you may need to learn to hold your tongue, but it's alright." Arianna explained. "Oh... Well... I really am sorry... I promise I'll make it up to you guys tomorrow!" Winter declared, taking a seat next to Rihn at the bar. Christine just shook her head as she brought out a mug of coffee for Winter. "Consider it on the house." Christine chuckled as the five resumed talk amoung themselves.

They stayed another hour or so in the bar (they all switched back to non-alcoholic drinks of course.) Eventually, Winter got up from his chair. "I think we should be heading to bed now guys. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." He yawned for emphasis. Christine waved again as they got up from their chairs. "Thanks for coming, good luck on the second floor guys!" She said happily as Loi left a few bills on the counter. They bade farewell to Christine, heading out from the bar and to the main hall of the building, when someone called Winter's name. "Winter! Wait!" The five turned to see Arin, Caili and Pat running down the hall. "Thank goodness we found you." Caili said happily. "Oh, hey guys. Sorry for my behavior earlier." Winter apologized. "No, Winter, it's fine. We didn't come to force an apology out of you." Arin explained quickly. "Oh? Then why're you here?" Looking confused, Winter glanced from the three, to Arianna, who merely shrugged. "Well, we came to see if you would still accept us as Guild members." Pat said. "You seriously still want to join after all the things this dolt said to you?" Lynn looked from surprise at them and Winter. Caili shrugged. "Well, it might've surprised us, certainly, but we really want to explore the Labyrinth. So, if you're still willing, will you take us on board?" She asked for the three of them. Winter looked flabberghasted. "I- Well- Thing is I'd-" He stuttered. Arianna elbowed him sharply, causing him to gasp and finally squeak. "We'd love to have you guys with us." A beautiful smile lit up Caili's face. "Oh thank you!" She squealed, hugging Pat and Arin. "Guys, we've done it!" "Welcome on board." Loi said grudgingly as he offered Arin a hand.

* * *

**A/N: In case you couldn't tell, msot of this chapter was for humor. **

**Third chapter out within three days! WOOOO! **

**No, I am not going to ever be this productive in the future. So enjoy it while you can. Nyah.**

**Also, vote on the poll.**

**KTHXBYE**


	12. Chapter something or other

12: Promotions

The three new members of Wingless quickly got settled in, which Winter seemed a bit miffed about. "This place just isn't home!" he declared to no one in particular. Thankfully, the members seemed to get over Winter's initial oddness and were accepted into the guild with open arms. Arin and Caili both proved to be quite adept when it came to healing, they also turned out to be childhood friends with each other and with Pat. Pat talked with Winter a while, trying to explain to him the Ronin code, but looked more frustrated in the end then anything else. Code or not, the Ronin seemed quite skillful, and Winter enjoyed talking with him (even if Pat didn't.) They all stayed up another three hours, talking about this and that and comparing travels with each other. Caili had grown up in the country with three older brothers. She had joined Pat and Arin on their journeys to the Labyrinth mostly to get away from her brothers' nagging. Arin, on the other hand, was an only child, who had studied the Labyrinth since a young age. Pat had always wanted to be a warrior like his father was, and so he joined Arin in his dreaming of exploring the Labyrinth and becoming a strong warrior. "We both took up healing because that was really the only profitable job in our village. Our parent's preferred knowing we had a back-up plan in case the exploring bit didn't work out." Arin explained. Although none of the three seemed to be as... um... what's a good word to describe the five members of wingless... uh... Spontaneous? Weird? Psychosomatic geniuses? Whatever, they just seemed a tad more normal then the other five weirdos. "Oi, narrator, cut that out." Winter eventually grumbled, much to the confusion of everyone else. Unfortunately, Winter really doesn't have much power over the storyteller, so I'll continue writing how I like. So there-"No you won't!"- wait, what are y-?! Trhy;oityopaq'354tioq5867 1/923r79/4g9  
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...I'll behave now. "Good." Winter said smugly, once more catching weird glares from everyone else.

They eventually turned into bed, they just slept in later then they meant to. Winter seemed on cloud 9 as he ate his breakfast. "Todays the day~!" He sang as he shoveled cereal into his mouth. And he had good reason to be excited, after they turned in their map, they would become officially recognized as a unique guild of Largeon. And get, you know, all the perks that come with that or whatever. Pat, Arianna, Arin and Caili sat together at the bar, eating breakfast together as Arianna showed them their finished map. "The main trouble we had on the first floor was ambushes from larger parties of monsters. Most of the monsters by themselves aren't that bad, they're easily taken down by one or two people." She explained, trying to fill them in with as much information about the first floor as she could. Christine wiped down the bar and looked over the map. "You know guys; there are people who request jobs by people who traverse the Labyrinth." She trailed off. Arin looked up. "Really? Like what?" He asked curiously. "Well, my aunt Valerie, she's the owner of the Golden Deer Pub, has customers with problems post requests on a job board. Then, adventurers or warriors can go through choose a problem to solve. For example, one of them was simply to go into the Labyrinth and fetch some water from the stream on the first floor." Christine explained. "That sounds very interesting... It would definitely benefit us if we checked it out." Arianna said cheerily. Christine nodded and smiled. "If you ever do stop by, just tell Valerie that I sent you, she'll take the rest from there." Christine told them as the finished their plates. Winter came up behind the group. "You brief them, Ari?" He asked the blond Protector. "To the best of my ability. Are we heading out now?" She replied. Winter tapped his fingers together mysteriously. "Yes, but you won't need your weapons today, we're doing something else." He chattered. "Oh? Like what?" Caili asked, sliding off her stool. "Like, IT'S A SURPRISE! :D " Winter said excitedly before running off the check on the others. Pat shook his head as he hopped off his stool. "Is he always like that?" He asked Arianna as she paid for their meal. She chuckled. "Always."

Rihn held her breath as Markus checked over the completed map. Eventually, he nodded and set the map back down. "Congratulations, you've completed the first floor." He said in a flat tone. "Woohoo!" Winter cheered, turning and giving a very surprised Arin a high-five. Arin broke into a smile himself though, being unable to avoid the contagion of smiles that seemed to spread to each member of Wingless. Markus readjusted his glasses. "As you have now completed your quest, you are officially recognized by Largeon as a guild. With that, you have the right to trade with the locals, complete quests and other missions requested by the citizens or by the Senate and the right to explore the rest of the Largeon Labyrinth." He explained. "And here is your reward." Sliding a pouch of gold across the desk, Markus nodded once more to them. "We look forward to what discoveries Wingless will make in the up coming years." Winter reached across the table and grabbed Markus by the hand, pumping it up and down in a vigorous handshake. "Oh thank you Thank you THANK YOU!" Winter cheered. Markus pulled his hand back, his glasses falling askew. "You're quite welcome. And don't shout so loudly." He said as he turned back to his work. Winter turned to the others, giving them a big grin as he waved around the maps that would soon be used to fill out the new floors. "Guuuyysss! Weeee diiiiddd ittttt!" He whisper-shouted, much to Markus' annoyance. But even the grumpy Chief Clerk couldn't help but give a small grin as Winter ran outside to fully let out his emotions with shouts of joy. "You'll be seeing more of us soon." Rihn said cheerfully as they left the building. "I'll be expecting you." Markus said to himself after the bustling guild left the Senate.

"Alright, so where to now? You said we weren't going to the Labyrinth today..." Lynn trailed off, putting a hand on her hip and staring at the purple-hooded guild leader. "Well, today's our day off. We have a bunch of stuff to do!" He said loudly, clapping his hands together. "Wasn't that an oxymoron?" Pat muttered to himself. Lynn glanced back at him. "So I wasn't the only one who noticed?" She chuckled. Winter shook his head. "I meant that we have stuff to do before we can go back down. Since only five members are let down at a time, then we need to devise a schedule to make sure everyone gets a chance to explore." Explaining while he walked, Winter led them down a path leading away from Sparrows. "Hey, Winter, we were supposed to turn left back there." Arianna pointed out as Winter strode forward. "Nope! We aren't going to Sparrows!" He shouted at the sky, thrusting his fists up in the air. "Then where are we going?" Arin asked. "IT'S A SURPISE! :D " Winter shouted even louder. "Why does he keep saying colon-dee?" Arin asked Lynn after Winter strode forward a bit more. Lynn shook her head and groaned. "You learn to not question his madness."

The others chatted while they walked, the three new members fit in pretty well with the group. Fortunately for them, because Winter told Loi in secret that if they didn't fit in he would scare them off with exuberance. Although Loi did not know how exactly Winter would go about doing this, he figured it would not be a very good situation. Besides, Lynn might throw a real temper-tantrum and leave with Loi to go home. Not that he doubted Lynn would easily find her way home or missed her; he just would've missed someone to tease all the time. Teasing Rihn wouldn't be as fun, she had serious issues that he might prod too hard and seriously hurt her somehow. Teasing Arianna was just out of the question entirely. He glanced at her, out of the corner of his eye. But somehow, she noticed; Arianna looked toward him and gave him a warm smile, which he returned. ...Nope, he couldn't tease her. As they walked, he noticed that the area was getting nicer and cleaner. The houses were growing larger as well. "Winter, where are we going?" Loi asked as Winter stopped. "Here! Welcome to our new home!" He cheered as they stood in from of a looming mansion. "What?" Arianna asked breathlessly as she stared at the house. An older gentleman was standing on the front porch and waved as Winter bounded towards the door. "Winter, you've finally brought your guild I see! Please, come in, let me show you around!" He said warmly as he shook Winter's hand. Winter turned to his bemused guildmates, looking quite smug. "I know you guys might think I'm a bit scatter brained, but I have been doing a lot of work! This here is my friend, Harrison Lagaard the III. And I've got him to Sponsor Wingless!" Winter explained, still looking smug. Arianna blinked. "You really managed to get us a sponsor so early on?" She asked, still obviously surprised. "Of course! With my natural charisma and conversation skills, it was quite easy." Winter chimed. Snorting, Lynn could be heard mumbling. "That's one word for it." Pat, Arin and Caili were still staring at the house in amazement. "Wowzers! It looks even bigger then out old house!" Rihn cheered as she ran up the front steps. "Bigger, and even less of a dump." Hali agreed. "So, are we moving in here then?" Lynn asked. Harrison cleared his throat. "As Winter said, we struck a bargain with each other. For many years, I've helped promising new guilds get on their feet, for a small price in return of course. This house is too large for just myself, so I extend it to the guild members as well. You are welcome to stay as long as you wish." Harrison beamed. "Whats the price then?" Lynn asked. Angrily, Winter crossed his arms. "Lynn! That is RUDE!" He chided her. Lynn rolled his eyes as Harrison answered. "Nothing much, only 20% of the profit made on sold items from the labyrinth. A fair price for beginners." Lynn nodded, obviously satisfied from the answer. Caili stepped onto the porch. "But Winter, what about our stuff left at the Inn?" She asked as she admired the house. "Oh no worries, I paid some reasonable looking guy to drop it off later." Winter said, giving a thumb up. "Now let's go inside and look around!"

The house was spacious, and very cozy. Surprisingly, it wasn't that lavish on the inside, but rather, used in a homely sort of manner. "We still have some art pieces, but with so many people coming in going it's safer to just keep out more usable items." Harrison gaffed as he showed them around. Winter pulled Arianna aside mid tour, however. "So, I was thinking, room right next to the entrance for an office, that okay with you, Miss Secretary?" He asked her quietly. She was confused for a moment, but then returned with a smile. "That's fine with me. I'm simply impressed you found us such a place to live so quickly its... it's quite wonderful. Thank you, Winter." Arianna said softly. Winter gave her another grin and slowly led her back to the group. But neither of them noticed the black shadow that slipped after them.

"And these are the open rooms. There are exactly eight, each with a set of bunkbeds inside. Please, select one and make yourselves at home." Harrison finished as he led them down a hallway on the second floor. He moved to continue, but the members of Wingless were already scrambling off to claim their own rooms. At the end of the hall, you could hear the squabbling "I wanted this room!" "Tough luck I called dibs!" and then the sound of someone hitting the floor. Harrison stood there awkwardly. "..What are they, Children?" He muttered to himself as he walked to the flight of stairs leading to his private chambers. Arianna did summaries as she sat on the lower bunk of what was now her room. "Eight rooms with two beds in each, the availability for 16 members. But only 5 members allowed down at a time... Hnn, I'll have to write this down." She mumbled to herself as she looked through her new desk for pen and paper. A sudden scuttling from the door caused her to pause. Slowly, she straitened up, reaching for the knife clipped to the inside of her right boot. A black movement dodged to the left, under the bed. Skillfully, Arianna dove to the left, trying to get a view of the black thing when her door was kicked open. "Arianna! Whatcha doin on the floor when we're having a party?" Winter bellowed as he waved a bottle of champagne, charging in with Pat, Lynn and Rihn. Arianna's cheeks flushed as she quickly got to her feet. "Winter?! I'm unpacking, and don't barge in without knocking!" She yelled, turning a shade of red similar to Loi's coat. "Beside, you were up almost all night last night 'partying.' What about the Labyrinth? If you tire yourself out now by partying what will we do tomor-?" Arianna was cut off by Winter accidentally dropping the bottle of champagne on the floor. "Watch out!" He squealed in a high octave as the cork exploded out at a tremendous speed, hitting Rihn strait in the forehead. "Now look what you've done, Moron!" Lynn shouted as champagne bubbled across the floor. "What's going on?" Arin asked as he poked his head in the doorway, just in time to see Rihn hitting the floor. "Rihn?" He shouted, diving to her side. "Woah woah, I swear Lynn, it was an accident!" Winter shrieked as Lynn grabbed him by the collar. "It's always an accident with you! How can one human literally be that clumsy?" She roared. The power in her voice however was cut in half as she stepped forward, slipping on the champagne. Winter and Lynn went tumbling down on Pat as Caili ran into the room. "Is someone injured?!" She squealed. Arianna turned back to her bed. "If you're going to do this, then why does it have to be in my room...?" She wondered aloud to no one as Lynn started fresh in yelling at Winter, Caili and Arin were trading confused words as Rihn remained as unconscious as ever. Arianna sighed again, picking her way through the mass of bodies and champagne on the floor to get back to the hallway. If she would have stayed an extra moment, she would have noticed a dark shadow peek out from under the bed, studying everyone in the room before leaping to the window and through the glass itself. Arianna shut the door behind her, leaving the rest of Wingless to their squabbles. Loi was watching her unworriedly from his doorway. "What are they doing?" He asked, a slight expression of amusement crossing his face. Arianna shook her head and threw her hands up in the air in resignation. "'Partying.'" She mimicked Winter. Loi looked at the door way again, then stepped out of his. "Well then, how about we go and check the condition of our belongings while the rest of them cool down." He offered, suddenly looking anywhere but at Arianna. She hesitated a moment, but then stepped forward and linked her arm with his. "Sounds like a brilliant idea, let's go then." She said, her voice shrinking. Loi nodded, and the two left before any of the others could entangle the two of them in the 'Party.'

The shadow slinked across rooftops and busy street corners, twisting it's way into a dark shop, to the palm of a young boy. The two sitting next to him looked to him expectantly. "Well?" One of them, a burly man in orange asked. "Patience, you know the boy's language is unexpressed. Just allow him to show us." The other man, a ghostly man dressed in a deep blue cloak, replied smoothly. Slating his eyes, the boy looked at the shadow again and closed his palm. "What's this then?" The orange man demanded, getting to his feet. "Cinnt, speak now!" The man in blue hissed, hitting the boy for emphasis. Blood dripped from Cinnt's nose, but he refused to open his hand again. "...I apologize for the boy's abrasive behavior. For one so skilled, he is very wary of humans. Return tomorrow, I promise you will have the information you seek then." The Man in blue said quickly, standing between the man in orange and the boy. The other man growled. "Fine. But do know, that with one word to the Senate, your 'shadow speaker' league will be shut down faster then you can make up an excuse for." He spat, turning abruptly and leaving in a huff. The ghostly man in blue kept his smiling face until the man in orange was truly gone, then he turned sharply and kicked the boy. "What were you thinking? You fool... Unless the people you saw were Gods, then you had better show them what you saw tomorrow or else you'll be on the streets before you know it." He hissed. The boy, Cinnt, said nothing, but the ash brown hair of his swept away from the long red scar across the right side of his face. "Go now to your room. No supper until you cooperate. ...Hmph, they said you were a genius when your parents passed you off. Look at you now. Get going, genius!" He barked. Cinnt slowly rose, taking no time to wipe off the blood spilling from his face, and trailed off. "He's a hopeless hexer." The man growled again to himself.


	13. Chapter 13

13: Chapter thingyna bob.

"To your left!" Pat shouted as he struck at a large purple butterfly. The creature darted out of his sword range, moving gracefully across the air and back over Caili, where it shed more of its purple, glistening scales. "Watch out!" Lynn shouted as she released an arrow at the monster. Dodging again, the butterfly nearly avoided the attack, the arrow however, grazed the corner of it's wing. It was enough to send the creature plummeting. "I've got this!" Rihn shouted as she charged towards it with her sword. As she drew back to stab the beast, a great roaring flame whistled past her head and engulfed the lying butterfly. Rihn pouted as she turned to see Loi's usual emotionless face. "I just said I had it..." She sulked. "I know. But flames cause it's eyes to crystallize, look." He said as he crouched beside the vanishing corpse. A pair of brilliant blue crystals was all that remained. Pat sheathed his sword as he joined Rihn and Loi. "I think we can get a good price from these." He contemplated as he picked them up and dropped them in his satchel. "Alright, is everyone okay? No more poisonings, were there?" Caili asked as she bound a minor gash on the side of Lynn's hand. The Venomflies in the forest had caused a lot of problems for Wingless when they first began to explore the second floor. In a single chance encounter, Arianna, Rihn and Pat had all gotten poisoned and Arin didn't have the proper equipment to heal poison. Needless to say, they had quite a time combating the annoying monsters. Their eyes were very expensive though, and could only be preserved with alchemy, making Loi an invaluable asset for making profit on the second floor. Though to be fair to the newly devised schedule, he was only on the team 5 of the 6 days that Wingless entered the Labyrinth. "Keep note guys, we're getting close to the Ragelope's grounds again." Lynn called as she checked the map Arianna had filled out the last time she was down. "So what? You guys took down a ragelope up top, didn't you?" Pat scoffed. "Yes, but you're not getting the situation we were in." Loi said gravely. "The Ragelope we took down was a fairly young specimen, in an unknown, enclosed environment. Here, we could run into a full-grown beast right in it's own territory. If we tried to take it down, the odds would not be in our favor." He explained. "Then we'll just avoid Ragelopes, got it!" Caili affirmed. "Not just that, but theres another great monster on this floor..." Lynn continued. "And that is?" Pat asked. "I'm not quite sure. Arianna just made a scribble about some sort of bull monster another adventurer told her about." She complained as she squinted at the paper. "Oh well, we'll just tread carefully, okay team!?" Rihn cheered. "I think you're taking this too lightl- Why are you all cheering with her?" Lynn asked exasperated as the other four members of Wingless cheered.

Arianna sat at the neat wooden desk she had taken as the secretary of Wingless. It was an important role, and she always believed that to be professional one's space must also be professional. Yet, so far, she hadn't had much to do. Since Wingless' income was rather sporadic and they barely had any quests, she barely had any work. Glancing out of the window next to her desk, Arianna sighed. She was really bored. Winter had up and vanished earlier, with the claim of looking for entertainment and Arin left to send a letter to his parents. Arianna sighed again and stood up. As long as there was no more work to do, she was free to do whatever she pleased; which meant she could finally investigate the matter that had been on her mind the past few days. She grabbed her jacket as she walked towards the front door. Before she left, she scribbled down a quick note in case Arin or Winter returned before her. "Alright, I'll be back soon." Arianna said to no one as she left the note on the mirror beside the front door. Lightly treading down the front steps, Arianna glanced at the sky, considering where she should go to start her investigation.

Christine was wiping down glasses as Arianna entered the bar. "Ari! It's been a while, how goes everything with Wingless?" She called out as Arianna took a seat on the bar stool. "Hey Christine, It's all going smoothly so far. Winter actually managed to get us a decent sponsor and all the bells and whistles. Now my only problem is boredom." She confessed. Christine chuckled. "I can relate. It's almost too quiet around here without Winter's constant shenanigans." "Speaking of Shenanigans, I was hoping you could help me with a search of mine." Arianna interrupted. Pausing, Christine set down her glass. "Sure thing Ari, what are you looking for?" A serious expression settled on Arianna's face. "Someone who can tell fortunes, is there a place like that around here?"

"Have we been down this way yet?" Rihn asked as she looked either way on a crossroad. Their options were to go forward or left. "No, but Arianna put a purple circle at the end of this path, so we should probably avoid it." Lynn replied as she glanced over the map. "Purple circles mean monsters, right?" Caili asked as she peeked at the map. "Yep. So let's just keep going left, alright?" Lynn finished as she rolled up the map. Rihn pouted. "But what if the stairs are that way?" She asked, exasperated. "She has a point. We don't know what lies down there until we actually tread the path." Pat said solemnly. "Who made you the wiseman?" Lynn quipped. "Come on, just going down a bit wouldn't hurt! Pretty please?" Rihn begged, a kawaii expression on her face. "...Okay. But just stop doing whatever that is with your face. Honestly, you people don't take anything seriously." Lynn grumbled as she followed Rihn down the path. "It's probably just a dead end." Loi said quietly. "Oh who asked you." Rihn pouted again. Loi rolled his eyes as shuffled his alchemist cards nervously. They weren't much farther down the path when Lynn and Pat tensed up. "What's wrong you guys?" Caili asked, drawing back. "There's something down the path. Something big." Pat said solemnly, withdrawing his sword. By this point, Rihn had sensed it as well and had her sword out. A shriek echoed through the woods as a great beast crashed closer. "Guys, we've got to get out of here, NOW." Lynn barked as she turned and to her horror, found Caili, Loi and Pat frozen from fear. The animal's shriek had literally immobilized the adventurers. "Rihn! Help me! We've got to cover for them until they can run again!" Lynn cried as she withdrew several arrows from her quiver and stepped back. Rihn barely managed to nod, heavily affected from the shriek herself. Lynn panicked as the creature came closer, and closer; her teammates showed no sign of recovering soon when all of a sudden... "Grab the healer, I've got the Ronin and enough medicine to revive the Alchemist!" Lynn whirled around to see Blake charging down the path. With one swift movement, he had pulled a tiny vial of liquid from his bag and threw it at Loi's feet. The bottled burst open, the liquid soaking through the cuffs of Loi's pants. Loi gasped as if he was just pulled out of an icy cold pond and glanced around, obviously confused. "No time, just run!" Lynn ordered as She and Rihn took Caili's arms and began to drag the poor healer away. Meanwhile, Blake had grabbed Pat and hoisted the frozen Ronin over his shoulder as he retreated down the path.

"That was a close one." Rihn sighed in relief as they party returned to a safer path. "I'll say. What were you all thinking? Taking on Ragelopes at this point in your adventure? That's suicide!" Blake yelled. Rihn and Pat both flinched under the harsh words. "We're sorry..." Rihn mumbled apologetically. "Sorry wouldn't cut it if one of your party members were dead, would it? And don't apologize to me, apologize to them. When you're down in the labyrinth, you don't take chances that could risk a life. This place is too dangerous for such folly." Blake barked. Rihn seemed to shrink, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Hey, I know that we made a stupid mistake, but stop yelling at Rihn like that." Caili said defensively, stepping between the Dark hunter and the Landsknecht. Blake studied Caili for a moment, then shook his head and sighed. "You're right, I probably shouldn't have gone off the deep end like that... It's just, your team kind of reminds me of what mine used to be." He sighed again before turning around. "For now, I recommend you rest, maybe return to the surface. But if not, the on paths like these, always go left. Going strait will lead you to Ragelope dens." Blake finished as he turned around the bend and out of sight. Rihn was still sniffling. "I'm really sorry guys..." She apologized again. "It's not your fault. I should've put my foot down and refused to let you go." Lynn said. "Then same goes for me as well." Pat admitted. Clearing his throat, Loi interrupted. "Okay, great, it's all our faults. If we keep standing around, we're going to get ambushed by some monsters. Can we at least keep moving, even if it's going back to the entrance?" Lynn nodded. "Yes, Come on Rihn, we still have a quota to meet."

Arianna stepped into a poorly lit building off the mainroad. The room was dank and cold as well as devoid of light. Curtains were set up over windows and what were once lavish rugs were spread across the floors. "Weeeeeeeelcome." A smooth voice hissed from behind another curtain. Arianna grimly pushed the curtain aside to see a pale man with blue hair sitting behind a crystal ball. "Come, sit. You are searching for something, correct? I can help you..." The man said mysteriously. Followign the instructions, Arianna knelt on the other side of the crystal ball, facing the enigmatic man. "I am Tal. Now tell me, what is it you come here to discover?" The man, Tal, continued. Arianna's expression was misty as she gazed at the crystal. "I've already found what I'm looking for, now I simply wish for answers." She trailed off. The man chuckled. "But of course. You've come to the right place, miss." Tal smiled to himself; customers like these were always easy. The girl was fairly young, but old enough to be looking for marriage. Her appearance was that of wealth, most likely born into it with no experience of society. A knife was tucked into her boot, for self defense, meaning she usually traveled with at least one other person, or else her weapon would have been bigger. The signs all pointed to blooming romance, this girl wanted some affirmation. Tal chuckled again. "Say, this visit wouldn't happen to be about the young man you have your eyes on... would it?" Arianna's eyes went wide, but she quickly regained her normal expression. "And.. how would you know that?" She asked, evidently amazed. Yes, this would be too easy, Tal though to himself as he gave a benevolent smile. "The crystal shows all, my dear. Allow me to look into your future, then all will become clear." "No, actually, I want to read your fortune." Arianna interrupted, a coy smile on her lips. Tal looked startled for a moment, but a cool smile settled itself on his face as well. "I doubt you posses the gift to see through the mist, but you may try your hardest." He said smoothly, yet, a nervousness started to grow in his chest as Arianna placed her hands over the crystal ball. "Hmm..." She began, looking thoughtful, her smile growing. "I can see a man who scams people during the day, by the talent of observation alone! How interesting! Yet, at night, theres a much darker business going on... And whats this I see? I can't seem to make out the face of one customer in particular, I wonder who he could be!" Arianna prattled. Tal's expression went from calm to a void. "I see, so the question in this mystery is why such an innocent young girl would come all this way to look for trouble. Is it, perhaps, because of the stranger?" He continued for her, but the lightheartedness of the conversation was gone. An ominous aura filled the room, yet neither party flinched. "Let me put it like this. I simply want to know who has been using your services for the more unpleasant business aspects. Tell me the names and I'll be out of your hair." Arianna offered. The presence seemed to grow as Tal chuckled darkly. "Now, now.. You waltz into the spider's den and expect to waltz out just as easily? I'm afraid, my dear, you're in deeper trouble then you may think." "Oh no, I know exactly what I've gotten myself into. That's why I'm offering you a deal." Arianna said briskly. "You wouldn't happen to be a gambler, would you?" She smiled sweetly as she pulled a pack of cards from her bag.

Winter stood in the room he claimed for himself. As the leader of the guild, he got his own special room. Surrounding him was mirrors of all shapes and sizes. The enchantment Rihn and Hali put on the mirrors that each of the Wingless members wore was easy enough to figure out, so Winter had transferred each view onto the bigger mirrors. Now he had viewports from all of the labyrinth. He watched as the Wingless members barely escaped the clutches of the Ragelopes, but that's not all he watched. Arianna had been wearing her mirror pendant when she left, whether by accident or on purpose, Winter did not know. She was crafty, that was certain. "I've gotten quite a cast of characters..." Winter mumbled to himself as he watched the Guild members. Although he didn't want to admit it, he knew almost nothing about any of them. One thing he did know was that they lacked form. Although he had gotten several professionals, they weren't confident in working together. It was a problem he'd have to work on. More then anything, he wanted to go back down in the labyrinth. Unfortunately, it was forbidden for him. That, and he didn't know what would happen if he tried going down again. As his thoughts traveled to the Labyrinth, the thoughts of his old friends came back with it. "...Liza, Drennan.. Where are you guys now...?" He wondered aloud.

"Right up ahead!" Pat shouted as he rounded the corner. And he was right, the staircase leading deeper into the labyrinth could be seen at the end of the path. "Alright! We've made it!" Caili cheered. "Great, but we might want to be heading back now. I don't know about you all, but I'm worn out." Lynn complained as she finished the last trail on the map. "Agreed. We'll head back up for now and go down another day." Loi confirmed. The others nodded in agreement as they turned, ready to head back to the stairs, when something made Lynn freeze. "It's just like from earlier..." She muttered. The familiar sound of a ragelope, walking down the path made them all freeze. "We're trapped." Caili gasped. "No, we just have to make it down the path before it does." Loi corrected. "Can we even make that?" Rihn asked, exasperated. "Let's find out!" Pat yelled as he began to run.

* * *

**A/N:**

**(^U^)7 I haven't posted in a month. Okay, bye!**


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